Fury as UK farmers eye Fairtrade logo; Soil Association argues for

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Mar 30, 2003 | by Stephen Naysmith

PLANS to allow British farmers and food producers to apply for "fair trade" status could destroy customer confidence and undermine two decades of work to help growers in the third world, Scottish campaigners have claimed.

The proposal, now under consideration by the Fairtrade Foundation, is splitting the fair trade movement and has led to accusations that the Soil Association, the leading certification body for organic farmers, is mounting a "hostile takeover".

The Soil Association argues that many small-scale British farmers face exploitation similar to that suffered by their counterparts in the third world, with prices paid for produce barely covering the cost of production.

It argues that consumers would welcome a label which indicated that British food was both organic and that farmers were getting a reasonable payment for their crops or livestock.

Earlier this year, the two bodies entered into a joint pilot scheme which could see British "fair trade" products from eight different companies on the shelves by late summer. If the scheme is successful, the label will be made available to all who meet a range of criteria.

But many in the movement believe shoppers see Fairtrade as helping third world farmers to compete in a context of rampant globalisation, and might be put off if they felt their purchases were instead benefiting farmers in western countries with developed economies.

The success of products such as Cafedirect coffee and Divine chocolate has been built on attempts to reform world trade, and the foundation's own logo boasts: "Guarantees a better deal for third world producers".

Opponents of the project envisage dismayed customers putting away their purses when they realise that, despite packets and posters depicting tea or coffee growers in Sri Lanka or Kenya, in fact the premium they pay could be going towards an expensive car for a subsidised farmer in Western Europe.

They point out that in some cases, UK organic farming is directly incompatible with fair trade - such as English sugar beet farming, which qualifies for EU subsidies, making it hard for sugar cane growers in countries such as Costa Rica to compete.

Such concerns have now been taken up by Falkirk West MP Eric Joyce, who has raised the issue in parliament. He said: "Historically when people bought fair trade products they did it primarily in order to help people in the developing world.

"Imagine the damage which will be done, the first time a newspaper runs a story about a farmer in Norfolk with a five-bedroom house and a Volvo, and says 'this is what Fairtrade is funding now'.

"Every colleague I have spoken to about this - including some ministers - thinks it will create confusion."

Joyce said he feared the Fairtrade Foundation's consultation was "tokenistic" and based on a false premise, "The principle behind the consultation is that struggling farmers in the UK have much in common with producers in the third world. I don't accept that," he said.

"The only reason why the Soil Association wants the Fairtrade brand is because it is worth something to it."

Now the Fairtrade Foundation is increasingly embattled, with many of its own supporters turning against it and the Soil Association. Participants at a meeting last Thursday of leaders of Fairtrade companies and distributors, say the mood was overwhelmingly hostile to the Soil Association initiative.

Andy Good, director of Edinburgh's Equal Exchange Fairtrade co- op, said: "We were speaking with one voice on this."

He said the Soil Association's move was "opportunistic" as it was at liberty to develop its own ethical trade label for organic produce.

"This is really just a competitive move by the Soil Association to feed off the last 20 years of hard work built up by the Fairtrade movement."

Carol Wills, director of the International Federation for Alternative Trade, which represents fair trading groups around the world in 56 countries, added: "There is a general sense that this would thoroughly confuse consumers who tend to associate fair trade very strongly with products that come from really marginalised producers in developing countries."

Ian Bretman, deputy director of the Fairtrade Foundation, said his organisation was often asked why it didn't also support small scale farmers in the UK. One in four farms in the UK will close or merge by 2005, according to the government, while 11 farmers go out of business every day, he said: "The profession also has the second highest suicide rate of any in the UK. If that was happening in countries in the south, we would get involved."

However, he conceded that responses since the consultation was launched in January had been predominantly negative. "A lot of people in the Fairtrade movement feel passionately that this isn't something we should get involved in. Our priority must remain people in poor countries, but we have a programme that helps farmers in developing countries. At least, we should examine whether it might help here too."

Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association, says the critics are mistaken. "I am aware a strand of opinion doesn't necessarily hold with this initiative," he said. "I think they are wrong.