Fair Trade - Event: 17th June, House of Commons
Posted by Joan Ryan, MP for Enfield North, at 10:27, Thu 29 May 2008:
Over recent years many of you have discussed the importance of fairtrade with me. We have campaigned together to pressure international governments to secure better trade rules that will allow the world’s poorest countries to help grow their economies and reduce poverty.
Fair trade sales are becoming increasingly popular. Every 2 years for the last eight, UK shoppers have doubled the amount of fairtrade goods they buy. Fairtrade sales in the UK have been growing on average at 40 per cent, every year. The total value of fair trade products sold in the UK in 2006 was 284 million, up from £196 million in 2005, and a growth of over 1,000 per cent since 1998.
This growth is not restricted to the UK: the market for fair trade labelled products has been growing worldwide at 30-40 per cent a year. In 2006 £1.1 billion was spent by consumers on fairtrade certified products. This is a 42 per cent increase on the previous years and directly benefits over 7 million farmers, workers and their families in developing countries. The areas of particular growth were: cocoa (93%), coffee (53%), tea (41%), bananas (31%) and cotton (doubled in 1 year).
No country has reduced poverty in the last 30 years without also increasing trade. This is why the government has led international efforts to secure fairer trade rules. As part of this the government has committed significant resources: £12 million on fairtrade promotion since 1997 and $750 million every year from 2010 on Aid for Trade.
But there is more that we can do as consumers. Three simple steps will help grow the fair trade market and deliver benefits to some of the world’s poorest countries.
• First, where possible, buy products from developing countries.
• Second, if there is no clear labelling then ask the retailer where the product has come from and ask that they provide this information more clearly in the future.
• Third, ask about the working conditions of those who produced the goods.
By ensuring that retailers are aware that there are a significant number of concerned shoppers, we can help deliver real benefits to developing countries. In Africa, for example, fruit and vegetable exports to the UK benefit a million farmers and their families.
Fairtrade is important to me and I am proud to be a fairtrade employer. There are several hundred fairtrade towns in the UK and half the London boroughs have already achieved fairtrade status. I am pleased to hear that Enfield has now decided to apply for fair trade status and I am fully supportive of this promising step forward which we have all been pressing for.
I would like to invite you to an event I am hosting an event on Fair Trade on the 17th June in the House of Commons.
I have invited the Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP, Secretary of State for International Development to join the meeting to talk about what the government are doing to promote FairTrade, he will also be available to answer some of your questions.
Every guest will also be invited to go on a tour of the Palace of Westminster following the meeting. If you are able to come to the meeting, you would be very welcome to join us for a tour.
For anybody who would like to come it is very important that you let us know as places are strictly limited.
Please e-mail the office at ryanj@parliament.uk and we will send you a reply-slip to complete.
I hope to meet with you all on the 17th.
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