Letter submitted by Simon Forster
FAIR TRADE:
ASPECTS OF
CONCERN
I have over 20 years experience of international
development in Africa and Asia. I have been intimately involved
in commercial agricultural operations in Africa that have been
owned by communities and workers, or operated on their behalf.
I have managed large subtropical export fruit and vegetable farms
and lobbied supermarket chains throughout Europe for supply contracts
long before Fair Trade became famous. I am also the author of
the policy advisory paper Investing in Africa.
As I am sure you are deluged with submissions
from the public, I will be brief:
1. In the absence of a WTO-led system of
equality in global trade, Fair Trade arrangements are essential
for the economic survival of commercial operations in underdeveloped
countries and for the just welfare of the people involved with
those enterprises.
2. However, permitting the proliferation
of these systems by commercial entities whose primary objective
is to maximise consumer appeal and hence the returns for their
investors, does run the risk of the exploitation of vulnerable
people by less-scrupulous retailers.
3. There is also a very real risk of some
retailers doing more harm than good through inadequate investment
in the skills and knowledge systems that will enable them to enter
into mutually beneficial and lasting relationships with enterprises
in underdeveloped countries. Late last year I attempted to speak
to the head of the corporate social investment department of a
leading UK supermarket chain using the telephone numbers provided
on their website. After several transfers to the wrong people
the company's secretary admitted that no such person existed and
that the information on the website was there largely for marketing
purposes.
4. Certain European retailers place onerous
constraints on farming operations. Some criteria, such as the
chilling of produce within minutes of being picked, are understandable—though
logistically quite difficult without considerable investment.
However, other criteria, such as producing sweet potatoes with
a completely unblemished pink skin, are largely cosmetic. Compliance
with this particular criterion proved very difficult by one farming
operation with which I was involved because of the inevitable
consequences of produce handling. It led to considerable financial
losses being incurred by the enterprise.
5. If UK retailers are serious about assisting
third world producers then they must be challenged to:
— Invest in those enterprises in order
to improve skills, product quality and overall competitiveness.
— Subject themselves to independent
periodic social audits of their Fair Trade activities and allow
these to be made publicly available.
6. Well-meaning retailers and NGO activists
must be more diligent in their Fair Trade relationships. Africa,
and I am sure the rest of the developing world, has its share
of dubious opportunists. Last August I undertook a Belgium-sponsored
review of a community-owned citrus farm in Africa that was experiencing
major problems. The fruit produced by this farm is on sale at
more than one UK supermarket chain. The main problem was that
the community was deriving no benefit from the enterprise. Indeed,
most benefits seemed to accrue to the predominantly white management
of the farm and a couple of their black colleagues. I was at the
farm for a week and on one day most of the white senior managers
failed to appear for work citing meetings elsewhere. However,
after some searching questions the remaining black manager confessed
that the real reason for their absence was that they were expecting
a visit from the Fair Trade inspectors. This is not an isolated
example. I know of African politician/farmers who lobby extensively
to have their farms (purchased with questionable funds) included
in Fair Trade deals. Unfortunately, I regularly see Fair Trade
products on supermarket shelves about which I have serious legitimacy
doubts. Eventually, the media will expose these products and Fair
Trade, and more importantly the people who depend entirely upon
it for survival, will suffer.
February 2007
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