International Development Committee Recommends Government Support for Fairtrade

The Fairtrade Foundation welcomes the International Development Committee, House of Commons, report released today which notes that Government support for Fairtrade lags behind public support, and recommends that the Department for International Development (DfID) adopt a much more proactive and strategic approach, allocating longer-term resources to Fairtrade, and taking a lead on facilitating increased Governmental procurement of Fairtrade products across all Departments.

“We urge the Department for International Development to now step up its support for the practical work of Fairtrade as an immediate and concrete response to the Committee report. An ambitious programme to bring more poor producers from more of the world’s poorest countries into the Fairtrade system is urgently needed, and DfID can help support this programme as part of a longer-term strategy where the UK government takes leadership internationally to champion Fairtrade as a way to tackle poverty,” says Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation. Ms Lamb spoke at the opening session of the Committee inquiry in February, along with the Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, who provided evidence about the positive impact of Fairtrade for banana farmers in the Windward Islands.

As the Committee noted, the Government’s political support demonstrated through a series of positive statements made by UK ministers at the G8 in Gleneagles, the Commission for Africa and other public meetings about increasing support to marginalized producers and growing Fairtrade markets, needs now to be translated by DfID into a consistent and strategic approach to investing in Fairtrade. It needs to take immediate action to allow more producers to access Fairtrade which, as the Committee states, can deliver real benefits to producers and enable them to trade their way out of poverty.

The Fairtrade Foundation is calling on DfID to recognise that, as the UK is the most dynamic Fairtrade market, it should take a lead within the international donor community to secure the £50m strategic investment which is necessary to take the global Fairtrade movement into the mainstream over the next five years.

Harriet continues: “Fairtrade has popularised the link between the consumer and the farmer in the developing world who grows the food on our tables and has put people at the centre of trade. The public have embraced Fairtrade as a powerful idea, showing that you can and should manage markets for social and development goals. Companies and business have responded to consumer interest by offering more Fairtrade products. However, the needs of communities in the developing world are still so great. It is time for government to match the current momentum and - through funding, influence in international fora and government procurement - help take Fairtrade to the next level.”

The Fairtrade Foundation, a member of the Trade Justice Movement, calls on the Government to adopt a leadership role both in Europe and internationally to get a trade deal which is fair to developing countries in the current round of World Trade Organisation talks.

Since the first three products with the FAIRTRADE Mark appeared on shop shelves in 1994, sales have soared reaching an estimated £295m in 2006. Some 270 towns and communities have met goals for Fairtrade status, along with 3,500 Fairtrade Churches, over 30 Fairtrade Synagogues and nearly 60 Fairtrade Universities. Interest is now growing amongst mosques and Hindu temples. During the annual Fairtrade Fortnight campaign in March 2007, around 10,000 events were held around the country. Awareness of the FAIRTRADE Mark ha now reached 57% according to the more recent TNS Consumer Omnibus survey, although other research shows it is even higher.

The FAIRTRADE Mark is the only consumer label that focuses on ensuring farmers in developing countries receive an agreed and stable price for the crops they grow, as well as an additional Fairtrade premium to invest in social projects or business development programmes.

Notes to Editors
1. All figures for Fairtrade sales are estimates, calculated from reported wholesale values.

2. The Fairtrade Foundation is an independent certification body that awards the FAIRTRADE Mark to products which meet international Fairtrade standards set by FLO (Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International). Currently FLO spans almost 80 countries, working with 580 producer partners from 58 countries and across 21 Fairtrade markets in Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Japan. Five million people - farmers, workers and their families - benefit from the international Fairtrade system and FLO aims to continually increase the number of producer groups registered to supply the international Fairtrade market. For example, the number of African Fairtrade certified organisations rose from 42 from 12 countries in 2002 to 164 organisations from 23 countries by the end of 2006 – an increase of 290%.

3. From 150 retail and catering products in 2003 in the UK, there are now over 3,000, available from 280 companies.

4. The five goals to achieve Fairtrade Town status are: the local council passes a resolution supporting Fairtrade, and serves Fairtrade coffee and tea at its meetings, in its offices and canteens; a range of Fairtrade products are readily available in the area’s shops; Fairtrade products are served in local cafés/catering establishments; Fairtrade products are used by a number of local work places and community organisations; a local Fairtrade steering group is convened to ensure commitment to Fairtrade Town status.

5. Fairtrade Fortnight is promoted by networks around the country including development agencies ActionAid, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Oxfam, SCIAF, Tearfund, TraCommitteeraft Exchange and the World Development Movement, as well as a wide range of other organisations: Banana Link, the Methodist Relief and Development Fund, the Mothers’ Union, The National Federation of Women’s Institutes, the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign, People & Planet, Shared Interest Foundation, Soroptimist GBI, the Public and Commercial Services Union, UNISON, the United Reformed Church, and many individual churches.

For further information, phone 020 7440 7686/7695 or mobile 07770 957 451 or email eileen.maybin@fairtrade.org.uk or martine.julseth@fairtrade.org.uk.

The Fairtrade Foundation,
Room 204, 16 Baldwin’s Gardens,
London EC1N 7RJ.

Tel: 020 7405 5942
Fax: 020 7405 5943
Web: www.fairtrade.org.uk