INTRO TO FAIR TRADE

Oxfam Mtg. 10/19/04
(Source: Global Exchange)

Fair trade means that farmers, workers, and artisans: 1) receive a sufficient price under direct long-term contracts, 2) are small-scale producers in democratic co-ops (coffee, cocoa, bananas, fruits, crafts) or workers on larger farms who receive a living wage and can bargain collectively (tea, bananas, fruits), 3) don't use abusive child labor or forced labor, and 4) use ecologically sustainable methods.

Fair Trade involves the following principles:

• Producers receive a fair price - a living wage. For commodities, farmers receive a stable, minimum price.
• Forced labor and exploitative child labor are not allowed
• Buyers and producers trade under direct long-term relationships
• Producers have access to financial and technical assistance
• Sustainable production techniques are encouraged
• Working conditions are healthy and safe
• Equal employment opportunities are provided for all
• All aspects of trade and production are open to public accountability

The Fair Trade system benefits over 800,000 farmers organized into cooperatives and unions in 48 countries. Fair Trade has helped farmers provide for their families' basic needs and invest in community development. However, these farmers are still selling most of their crop outside of the Fair Trade system because not enough companies are buying at Fair Trade prices.

Fair Trade provides a sustainable model of international trade based on economic justice. It means an equitable and fair partnership between consumers in the Global North and producers in the Global South -- and is an alternative to sweatshop production.

COFFEE
The United States consumes one-fifth of all the world's coffee, making it the largest consumer in the world. But few Americans realize that agriculture workers in the coffee industry often toil in what can be described as "sweatshops in the fields." Many small coffee farmers receive prices for their coffee that are less than the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt.

CHOCOLATE
In 2001, The US State Department and the ILO reported child slavery on Ivory Coast cocoa farms, the origin of 43 percent of the world's cocoa. Subsequent research by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture indicated that though child slavery is thankfully very limited, other egregious forms of child labor are unfortunately widespread. Hundreds of thousands of children work in dangerous tasks on cocoa farms.