I have written something about fairness of fairtrade...give feedback please
Is Fairtrade fair?
However, Gavin McFarlane[1] states that a good number of people will be supporting the promotion of FairTrade products in British shops and supermarkets. Many others will have read about the scheme, under which farmers in the third world are supposed to receive a living income for their work and produce. But the retail industry has been on the receiving end of criticism in a recent survey, which suggests that there is a measure of exploitation of the goodwill of the customer by the retail outlets which are supporting the FairTrade scheme. Because people buy FairTrade produce in the expectation that they are helping the people of the third world, they are prepared to pay more for such goods as bananas, chocolate, tea and coffee. But the report revealed that major supermarket groups are adding an additional mark-up to FairTrade produce, a kind of premium over the fixed price which they pay to the farmers. The prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines has been vociferous in his criticism of supermarkets groups which he claims are actually driving down the wholesale price of bananas, and forcing local farmers into bankruptcy. Some supermarkets have already responded to the report by cutting prices on their produce involved in the FairTrade scheme. The revelation will certainly make consumers who have been supporting the scheme more inquisitive about how the funds which the supermarket chains are receiving from the scheme are shared. Public opinion may be an effective force in calling for a proper audit of the way the moneys received are divided between the food retailers — owned by major first world companies — and the prime producers in the third world countries of origin.[2]
[1] Gavin McFarlane, ‘ The non-taxing weekly for top practitioners’ (2003) 19 (703) TJ 2
[2] Gavin McFarlane, ‘ The non-taxing weekly for top practitioners’ (2003) 19 (703) TJ 2
[1] Gavin McFarlane, ‘ The non-taxing weekly for top practitioners’ (2003) 19 (703) TJ 2
[2] Gavin McFarlane, ‘ The non-taxing weekly for top practitioners’ (2003) 19 (703) TJ 2
