(31/01/05)Wereld Sociaal Forum - Europese Groenen steunen fair trade-netwerk

• 2005-01-31

Greens promote fair trade network at World Social Forum

At the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, the Green Members of the European Parliament announced their support for a network of civil society organizations that will promote direct contracts between farmers and consumers organizations to gain a fairer share of the profits made on the trade of products like sugar, soy and milk.

The idea was born at a joint conference of the Greens, the Brazilian family farmers’ organization Fetraf Sul and the Ministry for Agriculture and Agrarian Reform (MAPA). Brazilian farm cooperatives, who are trying to establish closer links with farmers and consumers in Europe, also took part. The goal of direct contracts is to give small Brazilian farmers a better price for their products.

Marie Hélène-Aubert, a French member of the Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, said:
“The price of soya increases ten times from the farm gate in Brazil to the mouth of a European cow. The profits currently made in the trade of animal feed are entirely enjoyed by multinational traders like Cargill, while the prices for farmers worldwide are vastly reduced. We wish to support small farmers and let them have a fair share of the profits made on their products by promoting sustainable production methods and reliable labelling. With our initiative we also call upon consumers to contribute through responsible choice in their consumption.”

The “European Network of 40 GMO-free Regions” which agreed upon keeping agriculture and food on their territory free from genetically modified organisms (GMOs), will be the first test case for the fair trade contracts. At the upcoming meeting of this network on 4 February in Florence, Italy, Vice President of the Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development Friedrich Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf will present a first draft, based on preliminary consultations with the Governor of the State of Paraná in Southern Brazil. The state of Paraná has a well established infrastructure for separate transport, control and labelling of GMO-free soya. “We are convinced that if we succeed in establishing a parallel marketing structure based on good cooperation between regions which are determined to promote fair trade and sustainable agriculture, we will draw in other initiatives of this kind," he said.

Carl Schlyter, Swedish Green MEP and member of the Parliament's Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, added:
"The inclusion of human rights surrounding access to food, land and resources need to be included in the ongoing WTO trade negotiations. Both the health and working conditions in Brazilian sugar plantations, and the EU subsidies which cause the dumping of sugar surpluses onto the world market, are both violating human rights and should be banned immediately. EU sugar production quantities should be reduced and the respect of social and environmental standards should become an absolute prerequisite in the worldwide trade of food if we are to realise our goals and move towards the sustainable production and fair trade."

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