International trade may seem a remote issue, but when commodity prices fall dramatically it has a catastrophic impact on the lives of millions of small scale producers, forcing many into crippling debt and countless others to lose their land and their homes.
Products like coffee, tea and chocolate, that we in the north have come to depend on, are produced in the warmer climates of the south. The prices paid for these commodities have not risen in real terms over the last forty years, whilst the value of fertilisers, pesticides and machinery (imported from the rich countries) has increased substantially.
Consequently many of the people who grow these crops are having to work harder and longer for less money. On top of this the market price of commodities frequently drops below the cost of producing them.
The low price of coffee in the early nineties had a catastrophic effect on the lives of millions of small farmers, forcing many into crippling debt and countless others to lose their land.
Development agencies recognised the important role that consumers could play to improve the situation for producers. By buying direct from farmers at better prices, helping to strengthen their organisations and marketing their produce directly through their own one world shops and catalogues, the charities offered consumers the opportunity to buy products which were bought on the basis of a fair trade.
This worked well, and hundreds of small poor farmers were able to get back on their feet and trade their way out of poverty with a renewed sense of pride. The Fairtrade Foundation has a partnership agreement and shares a common definition of fair trade with such alternative trading organisations. But there was a limit to how many producers could benefit with fair trade sales limited to such niche outlets - not normally associated with food goods.
In order to generate greater sales on fair trade terms for the benefit of many more disadvantaged and marginalised producers it was important to get commercial manufacturers involved, and to get fair trade into the supermarket where most people do their shopping.
As long as manufacturers agreed to buy from registered suppliers according to Fairtrade criteria their products could carry the Fairtrade seal of approval. In 1989, the Netherlands became the first country to launch the Fairtrade consumer guarantee - the Max Havelaar label.
Today there are labelling initiatives in 17 countries, mainly throughout Europe and North America, and the product range now includes coffee, drinking chocolate, chocolate bars, orange juice, tea, honey, sugar and bananas. On sale in most major European supermarket chains, Fairtrade is now available to a much wider public with some Fairtrade products achieving 15% of national market share.
In the UK, the FAIRTRADE Mark is awarded by the Fairtrade Foundation. The Fairtrade Foundation was set up by CAFOD, Christian Aid, New Consumer, Oxfam, Traidcraft and the World Development Movement.
In order to co-ordinate the work of the national initiatives and run the monitoring programmes more efficiently, an umbrella body, Fairtrade Labelling Organisations (FLO) International, was set up in April 1997. One of its aims is to see the introduction of a single international Fairtrade label. The national initiatives retain responsibility for marketing and promoting Fairtrade in their respective countries.
