DOCSLIB.ORG

GA-2 16, Topic-Free Vs Fair Trade, Final

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
GA-2 16, Topic-Free Vs Fair Trade, Final Montana Model UN High School Conference General Assembly Second Committee Topic 2: Free Trade vs. Fair Trade with Developing Countries 1 1 October 2016 There are two basic approaches to international trade. The first approach, free trade , is the idea that government intervention and protectionist methods such as tariffs and import controls should be limited, allowing prices to be set by supply and demand and, therefore, to be as low as possible. The second approach, fair trade , is the idea that free market prices fail to provide for worker security in countries where labor is in abundance and wages are often inadequate to support workers’ most basic needs. Fair trade advocates argue that prices should be set to take such situations into account. The emphasis in free trade then, is on low prices, while the emphasis in fair trade is on fair prices. Those in favor of free trade argue that states should take several actions to reduce protectionism. First, states should reduce or eliminate tariffs (also known as customs duties), which are taxes on imports. 2 An example of a tariff is the US tariff on imported steel from China, which was set at 265.79% in March of 2016 to protect the US steel industry from the low prices that were accompanying a large “influx of foreign steel.” 3 Second, reducing protectionism calls for limiting subsidies. Subsidies are the financial assistance paid to support domestic businesses to make them artificially competitive against imports. In the European Union (EU) for example, domestic wheat farmers are being paid $200 per ton of wheat; however, outside of the EU, wheat can be purchased at $150 per ton, showing that EU farmers are being subsidized by $50 per ton. 4 Third, reducing protectionism calls for reducing quotas. Quotas are ceilings on how many goods can be imported; they are used by governments to restrict the growth of imports. 5 For example, to protect the American textile industry, in 2005 the US instituted a quota on the import of cotton shirts, trousers and underwear from China. 6 Advocates of free trade argue that reducing protectionist measures increases the supply of goods and therefore lowers their prices, which is good for consumers. But critics of free trade argue that free trade is unfair to producers, especially in developing countries, which typically produce similar items and therefore see falling prices for the goods they produce. Falling prices for developing country exports translates into low wages for workers, lack of environmental regulation, and low tax revenues for governments to invest in development. Thus free trade is often charged with making wealthy countries wealthier, while worsening—or at least failing to improve—the living conditions of the poor in developing nations. Proponents of fair trade see fair trade as the solution to these problems. Their goal is to eliminate poverty in developing countries by empowering producers. Oxfam, an influential non-governmental organization involved in 1 This document was written by Karen Adams, faculty advisor, with contributions from Owen Javins, Kedra Hildebrand, Samantha Stephens, and Dani Howlett. Copyright 2016 by Karen Ruth Adams. 2 Joshua Goldstein and Jon Pevehouse, International Relations , 4 th edition (Pearson and Longman, 2008), p. 176. 3 John W. Miller and William Mauldin, “U.S. Imposes 266% Duty on Some Chinese Steel Imports,” Wall Street Journal, 1 March 2016, Available at http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-imposes-266-duty-on-some-chinese-steel- imports-1456878180 . 4 John Lingard, “Agricultural Subsidies and Environmental Change,” Wiley.co.uk ; [article online]; available at http://eu.wiley.com/legacy/wileychi/egec/pdf/GB403-W.PDF . 5 Goldstein and Pevehouse, International Relations, pp. 176-77. 6 Elizabeth Becker, “U.S. Moves to Limit Imports From China,” The New York Times 14 May 2005; [article online]; available at http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/14/business/worldbusiness/14textiles.html . Montana Model UN High School Conference development, defines fair trade as “paying poor producers a fair price and helping them gain the necessary skills and knowledge to develop their businesses and work their way out of poverty.” 7 The fair trade movement focuses on setting fair prices for exports from developing countries, with the fair price determined by what is a fair wage in the local context and with importers purchasing as directly as possible from fair trade farmers and firms to maximize the income that producers make (instead of money going to middlemen). In addition, proponents of fair trade seek to improve the working conditions of people in the developing world by making sure that people are working under fair labor conditions; that their cultural identity is being respected; that fair trade producers invest in their community with their fair trade premiums; and that environmental sustainability is ensured. 8 Just as there are critics of free trade, there are critics of fair trade. The main criticism revolves around market intervention. Fair trade requires oversight to ensure that requirements are being met, and it is often criticized for setting a floor price on goods that is several times above the market price. 9 The fair trade floor price for coffee in 2004, for example, was $1.26 per pound, while over the last several years the market price for coffee had been between $.40 and $.60 per pound. 10 Furthermore, in 2004 The Wall Street Journal reported that retailers were inflating the price of fair trade foods and failing to pass the profits back to the growers. 11 In one case, the retail price of fair trade bananas was more than 16 times what the growers received. Some suggest that fair trade proponents allow this to occur because if they were to criticize retailers about pricing, retailers would stop selling fair trade products. 12 Another criticism of fair trade is the potential impact it can have on economic and food security in developing nations. Because one of the conditions in producing fair trade items is often that no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides be used, some argue fair trade may decrease yields and hinder food production. Also, rising prices of a particular luxury good such as coffee (due to demand in the fair trade market) may reduce demand for and therefore production of necessary food crops, as well as overproduction of the fair trade item. Additionally, some economists argue that the guarantee of a “price minimum” gives fair trade farmers no incentive to diversify or improve quality. 13 The UN has done a great deal of work to promote free trade and little direct work to promote fair trade. 14 Yet, although there are few instances in which the UN explicitly discusses fair trade, many UN Member States and UN agencies support fair trade practices. In 2006 for instance, the UN Environment Program's World Conservation Monitoring Center (UNEP-WCMC) reported that development aid should be used to improve the business skills of 7 Susan Ariel Aaronson and Jamie M. Zimmerman, “Fair Trade?: How Oxfam Presented a Systemic Approach to Poverty, Development, Human Rights, and Trade,” Human Rights Quarterly 28, no. 4 (2006), p. 1017. 8 The Fair Trade Federation, “Frequently Asked Questions,” available at http://www.fairtradefederation.org/become- a-member/frequently-asked-questions/ . 9 The floor price is the lowest price that that fair trade item can be sold at. Goldstein and Pevehouse, International Relations, p. 187. 10 Valerie Orth, “World Fair Trade Week: Fair Trade Action and Justice. Celebrate it by Shopping!,” Corporate Social Responsibility, 4 May 2004, available at http://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/20468-World-Fair-Trade- Week-Fair-Trade-Action-and-Justice-Celebrate-it-by-Shopping-, 11 Steve Stecklow and Erin White, “What Price Virtue? At Some Retailers, `Fair Trade' Carries A Very High Cost,” Wall Street Journal 243: 111, 8 June 2004. 12 Stecklow and White, “What Price Virtue?,” Wall Street Journal . 13 “Food Politics: Voting with your trolley,” The Economist, 7 December 2006, http://www.economist.com/node/8380592 . 14 United Nations, “Millennium Development Goals and Beyond 2015, Goal 8” available at http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/global.shtml . 2 Montana Model UN High School Conference rural communities to help them avoid exploitation by entrepreneurs and middlemen. 15 Furthermore, the UN commended the Rwandan coffee industry for rebounding after the 1994 genocide by forming collectives that “effectively cut out the middlemen in the coffee trade, while using sustainable methods to conserve the environment and developing the community in the process.” 16 Reaction to both free trade and fair trade has been mixed. Free trade supporters argue that it helps to provide jobs in the developing world and provides global consumers with lower priced goods. By contrast, fair trade advocates argue that lower priced goods come at the expense of fair wages, employment practices, and living standards. In addition, they point out the double standard being practiced by developed countries themselves who often violate free trade principles by protecting their own markets in certain key goods. History and Current Events In the 19 th century, trade was considered the engine of national economic growth. As countries developed, they dropped many import restrictions to take advantage of the lower prices that come from specialization. Most countries did not pursue this path until they were quite developed and therefore competitive in international markets, however. Britain, France, Germany, and the US all developed behind protectionist walls before becoming free trade advocates. By the first decade of the 20 th century, there was a great deal of trade even among rivals such as Britain and Germany, as well as within the British and French empires. But World War I brought this to a screeching halt. Once it was at war with Germany, Britain refused to honor the international gold standard it had set up to facilitate trade by making it easy for countries to deal with currency conversion.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Choosing Fair Trade to End Human Trafficking
    Choosing Fair Trade to End Human Trafficking “Fair Trade is a trading partnership based on dialogue, transparency, and respect that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers.” - World Fair Trade Organization What is Fair Trade? People who are impoverished are especially vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers. Fair Trade workers are paid a living wage so that their children don’t have to work to support their family and can attend school instead. Profits from Fair Trade ventures are reinvested into the community with Fair Trade Funds that address social, economic, and environmental challenges in each community. Through a democratic system, each Fair Trade community determines how their funds will be used. Funds can be reinvested into their business, directed to empowering women, supporting education, protecting the environment, fighting poverty and providing health care. In addition, Fair Trade certification guarantees that no child or forced labor was used in the production of goods. If you’d like to learn more about the impact of Fair Trade, please visit http://fairtradeusa.org/resources/impact-reports to read impact reports. Products that use Child Labor For a full report on the worst offenders in regards to forced and child labor, please see: http://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child- labor/findings/ Demanding Ethically Sourced Products Fair Trade does not necessarily create better working conditions for people caught up in forced labor, since those conditions do not meet Fair Trade standards. However, as more people begin to buy Fair Trade, the demand for ethically sourced products increases.
    [Show full text]
  • Fair Play in World Trade Towards a Social Democratic Redesign of Trade Policy
    DECEMBER 2018 FAIR PLAY IN WORLD TRADE TOWARDS A SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC REDESIGN OF TRADE POLICY Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel with Bernd Lange MdEP, Matthias Miersch MdB, Sascha Raabe MdB, Dirk Wiese MdB, Fabian Bohnenberger, Clara Brandi, Herta Däubler-Gmelin, Alexander Geiger, Heike Joebges, Florian Moritz, Hubert Schillinger, Evita Schmieg, Jochen Steinhilber and Johanna Uekermann FAIR PLAY IN WORLD TRADE Contents Summary � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �3 Preface � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �4 A New Debate on Trade � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �5 Conflicts and Trade-offs in International Trade Policy ���������������������������7 Between Liberalised Markets and Democratic Decision-making Autonomy � � � � � � � � � � � � �7 Between National Control and a Common EU Trade Policy � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �7 Between the Winners of Globalisation and Greater Prosperity for All � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �8 Between Multilateral Rule-making and Bilateral Preferentialism � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �8 Between Economic Objectives and Sustainability � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �9 Guiding Principles for a Social Democratic Trade Policy � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �11 A Social Democratic Reform Agenda
    [Show full text]
  • Are Fairtrade Prices Fair? an Analysis of the Distribution of Returns in the Swedish Coffee Market
    WORKING PAPERS IN ECONOMICS No 615 Are Fairtrade Prices Fair? An Analysis of the Distribution of Returns in the Swedish Coffee Market Dick Durevall February 2015 ISSN 1403-2473 (print) ISSN 1403-2465 (online) Department of Economics School of Business, Economics and Law at University of Gothenburg Vasagatan 1, PO Box 640, SE 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden +46 31 786 0000, +46 31 786 1326 (fax) www.handels.gu.se [email protected] Are Fairtrade Prices Fair? An Analysis of the Distribution of Returns in the Swedish Coffee Market Dick Durevall* HUI Research and Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg 23/02/2015 Abstract Consumers pay a premium for Fair Trade coffee, often assuming that it mainly benefits poor coffee farmers. However, several studies report that most of the premium accrues to actors in the consumer countries, such as roasters and retailers. This paper analyses how the returns to Fair Trade are distributed among bean producer countries, roasters and retailers, and Fairtrade Sweden, using scanner data on 185 products from Sweden and information about costs of production. The distribution depends on how much more costly it is to produce Fair Trade coffee compared to conventional coffee, given costs of beans and licences. Assuming the difference is 5 SEK per kg (about USD 0.80), which is on the high side, roasters and retailers get 61%, while producer countries, i.e., coffee farmers, cooperatives, middlemen, exporters and Fairtrade International, get 31%. The rest accrues to Fairtrade Sweden. These estimates are uncertain, but there is there strong evidence that Fair Trade retail prices are higher than the level attributable to the costs of Fair Trade beans and licences.
    [Show full text]
  • Community Development Funds and $200 Million As a Result of the Fair Trade Minimum Price
    Fair Trade USA® Consumer Packaged Goods Program 1 We Are Fair Trade USA As of 2018, producers have earned a total financial benefit of $610 million through sales of Fair Trade Certified™ products, including over $400 million in Community Development Funds and $200 million as a result of the Fair Trade Minimum Price. 250 1,250 950k 5% Nonprofit Over 250 Fair Trade Over 1,250 950,000 farmers & organization Certified businesses selling workers in 50+ founded in 1998 ingredients 40,000+ Fair countries available Trade Certified impacted in 2018 products in North America 2 2 Fair Trade: A Model for Global Empowerment Fair trade is a simple, powerful and authentic way to communicate to consumers that your brand is dedicated to sustainability. By supporting fair trade, you can improve the lives of farmers, protect the environment and foster community development. Your fair trade purchases allow farmers to increase their productivity, build schools and clinics, prevent child labor, and train farmers to improve their businesses. A commitment A choice to Helping to making a empower consumers make conscious choice farmers and to make the right for a protect the choices the most better world. environment. obvious ones. 3 3 Benefits of Fair Trade Producers National Brands Private Brands Access a new market segment Ignite consumer interest… Attract & grow key retail Access markets of those who only stand out on shelves by using the accounts source fair trade and be seen as a widely-recognized Fair Trade Certified Appeal to the 30+ retailers who leader in social responsibility. seal to tell the story behind your are adding fair trade product and brand.
    [Show full text]
  • Fair Trade in a Wal-Mart World: What Does Globalization Portend for the Triple Bottom Line?
    Chicago-Kent Journal of International and Comparative Law Volume 14 Issue 2 Article 1 1-1-2014 Fair Trade in a Wal-Mart World: What Does Globalization Portend for the Triple Bottom Line? Linda L. Barkacs Craig B. Barkacs Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/ckjicl Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Linda L. Barkacs & Craig B. Barkacs, Fair Trade in a Wal-Mart World: What Does Globalization Portend for the Triple Bottom Line?, 14 Chi.-Kent J. Int'l & Comp. Law 1 (2014). Available at: https://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/ckjicl/vol14/iss2/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarly Commons @ IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Chicago-Kent Journal of International and Comparative Law by an authorized editor of Scholarly Commons @ IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Article Fair Trade in a Wal-Mart World: What Does Globalization Portend for the Triple Bottom Line? Linda L. Barkacs* & Craig B. Barkacs** Abstract Globalization is characterized by such business practices as aggressive outsourcing, ultra-efficient logistics, and the relentless pursuit of cheap labor. Conversely, “fair trade” is an economic and social movement that works through private enforcement mechanisms to ensure that transnational supply chains do not exploit human and social rights.1 Accordingly, fair trade practices are very much in accord with the well-known “triple bottom line” goals of looking out for people, planet, and profits.
    [Show full text]
  • Fair Trade: What Does It Mean and Why Does It Matter? (Fourth Draft)*
    Fair trade: what does it mean and why does it matter? (fourth draft)* David Miller Nuffield College, Oxford [email protected] CSSJ Working Papers Series, SJ013 November 2010 Centre for the Study of Social Justice Department of Politics and International Relations University of Oxford Manor Road, Oxford OX1 3UQ United Kingdom Tel: +44 1865 278707 Fax: +44 1865 278725 http://social-justice.politics.ox.ac.uk * Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the Centre for the Study of Social Justice, University of Oxford, 12 October 2009 and at the conference on Global Justice and Democracy, University of Frankfurt, 4-6 March 2010. I am grateful to the audiences at those two events for their suggestions, and especially to Clara Brandi, Aaron James, Terry O’Shaughnessy, Mathias Risse, Ben Saunders, Thomas Schramme and Jo Wolff for their detailed comments on previous versions of the written text. CSSJ Working Paper SJ013 November 2010 The early years of the 21st century have witnessed an explosion of work in political theory on global justice and global democracy. The central question has been whether the conceptions of distributive justice and democratic governance that we have developed for use within the context of nation-states can or cannot be extended to the global level. Responses to it initially took the form of a debate between two rival camps – cosmopolitans on the one side and statists or nationalists (or ‘social liberals’1) on the other. In this respect it recalled the debate that took place in earlier years between ‘liberals’ and ‘communitarians’.
    [Show full text]
  • By Workshop We Mean a Discussion Forum Where Several Participants
    Facing the Challenge: The Temptations and Perils of Placing Volume over Values in the Fair Trade Market Chair and Convenor: Monika Maria Firl, Cooperative Coffees Address: 4542 rue de Marquette Montreal, QC H2J 3Y4 Telephone: 1-514-284-6162 Fax: 1-514-221-3611 E-mail: [email protected] Status: Practitioners (Fair Trade Coffee Importers, Roasters and Promoters) Volume verses Values: This workshop is intended to demystify certain assumptions around the debate on “How to grow the market?” a lively topic now commonplace in many Fair Trade circles. Along with the entrance of increasing numbers of Trans National Corporations (TNCs) without evident social agendas, many critics and practitioners are suddenly thrown into an “either or” discussion around the future directions of Fair Trade. Depending on whom you talk to and which way you look at it, Fair Trade is either “selling out” or “finally hitting the mainstream.” We will examine the strength of economic justice messaging based upon solid values and demonstrative commitment with both producer partners and local consumer networks, and how that has proved to be a more powerful tool for developing a sustainable Fair Trade network than slick marketing and/or large publicity budgets. We will bring together North American Fair Trade pioneers and innovators to share their respective life experiences introducing and developing Fair Trade markets in their respective fields of influence. We will provide a brief presentation by each one of the critical actors along the Fair Trade system: Fair Trade producer representative, Fair Trade financer, Fair Trade certifier, Fair Trade importer and Fair Trade roaster.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Life of Things: Globalization & Fair Trade
    Social Life of Things: Globalization & Fair Trade DR. BALMURLI NATRAJAN PRESENTATION AT RAMAPO COLLEGE, NJ OCTOBER 26, 2018 The Globe in our Hand…? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBCHcnvwfzA (42 s) 1. Globalization is latest phase of Capitalism 1. FLOWS 2. CONNECTIONS 3. INEQUALITY Globalization: Flows 2-minute 1-slide view of Capitalism and Gobalization Colonialism, Slavery ---------- Decolonial Wars ----------- Neocolonialism--------------Neoliberal Globalization Industrialist capitalists Fordism / Assembly MNCs on Rise Line Investment Bretton Woods bankers / Banks for monopoly Institutions Global capitalists / Free Crisis & finance Trade doctrines World Wars Merchant capitalists 1400 – 1770s 1770 - 1870 1850s 1900s 1914-1950s 1970s - present Globalization As Flows capital higher volume images/ideas Longer distance flows more freedom goods/services More volatile flows greater speed technology/ Highly uneven flows knowledge people Globalization: Connections Coffee: Bean to Cup Fries: Potato to Plate Globalization: Inequalities Also: World Institute of Development Economics and Research (WIDER) report http://www.wider.unu.edu/publications/working-papers/research-papers/2007/en_GB/rp2007-01/ Income growth over time for Fractiles, USA http://www.epi.org/publication/pay-corporate-executives-financial-professionals/ https://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/world-s-top-100-economies-31-countries-69-corporations CEOs and the average worker pay, USA 2. Capitalism Mystifies Itself 1. PRODUCER/CONSUMER 2. PROFITS 3. FREEDOM PRODUCERS CONSUMERS D I V I D I N G W A L L “…a definite social relation between men [sic], that assumes, in their eyes, the fantastic form of a relation between things” Karl Marx, Capital v 1. ch 1, section 4 D e m y s t i f i c a t i o n http://www.theyesmen.org/ https://antiadvertisingagency.com/ 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Marxism and the Solidarity Economy: Toward a New Theory of Revolution
    Class, Race and Corporate Power Volume 9 Issue 1 Article 2 2021 Marxism and the Solidarity Economy: Toward a New Theory of Revolution Chris Wright [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Wright, Chris (2021) "Marxism and the Solidarity Economy: Toward a New Theory of Revolution," Class, Race and Corporate Power: Vol. 9 : Iss. 1 , Article 2. DOI: 10.25148/CRCP.9.1.009647 Available at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol9/iss1/2 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Arts, Sciences & Education at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Class, Race and Corporate Power by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Marxism and the Solidarity Economy: Toward a New Theory of Revolution Abstract In the twenty-first century, it is time that Marxists updated the conception of socialist revolution they have inherited from Marx, Engels, and Lenin. Slogans about the “dictatorship of the proletariat” “smashing the capitalist state” and carrying out a social revolution from the commanding heights of a reconstituted state are completely obsolete. In this article I propose a reconceptualization that accomplishes several purposes: first, it explains the logical and empirical problems with Marx’s classical theory of revolution; second, it revises the classical theory to make it, for the first time, logically consistent with the premises of historical materialism; third, it provides a (Marxist) theoretical grounding for activism in the solidarity economy, and thus partially reconciles Marxism with anarchism; fourth, it accounts for the long-term failure of all attempts at socialist revolution so far.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Democracy to Come Transformational Progressive Politics in a Transformational World
    SOCIAL DEMOCRACY TO COME TRANSFORMATIONAL PROGRESSIVE POLITICS IN A TRANSFORMATIONAL WORLD Nichts kommt von selbst. Und nur wenig ist von Dauer. Darum - besinnt Euch auf Eure Kraft und darauf, dass jede Zeit eigene Antworten will und man auf ihrer Höhe zu sein hat, wenn Gutes bewirkt werden soll. Nothing comes out of nowhere. And very little is lasting. Therefore – focus on your strength and on the fact that every period demands its own answers, and that one has to be up for this, if any good is to come of it. Willy Brandt, Congress of the Socialist International, Berlin, 15 September 1992 Poul Nyrup Rasmussen and Udo Bullmann Poul Nyrup Rasmussen was Prime Minister of Denmark from 1993 to 2001 and President of the Party of European Socialists from 2004 to 2011. He was the leader of the Danish Social Democrats from 1992 to 2002 as well as a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2009. Udo Bullmann was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 1999, where he is serving on the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in which he acted as the coordinator of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) from 2009-12. Since 2012, he has been leading the German SPD delegation in the European Parliament. He has been a member of the SPD executive committee since 2015. INTRODUCTION Willy Brandt pronounced these inspiring words less than a month before he died, after an exceptional life spent fighting for progressive values in Germany, Europe and around the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Documentation of Proceedings Fair Trade Alliance
    NATIONAL CONFERENCE “A Nation in Crisis: Agenda for Survival” January 22-23, 2003 Club Filipino, Greenhills, San Juan Documentation of Proceedings Fair Trade Alliance REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES OFFICE OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT NATIONAL CONFERENCE "A Nation in Crisis: Agenda for Survival" January 22-23, 2003 Club Filipino, Greenhills, San Juan Background and Rationale of the Conference In December 2002, the Convenors of the Fair Trade Alliance (FTA) held a dialogue with Vice President Teofisto Guingona and his staff. What came out of the dialogue was the crystallization of a grim reality -- the gravity of the present national economic crisis and the threats of more conflict-laden divisions in Philippine society. However, there was also a consensus that the crisis is rooted primarily in the failure by the Philippine economic policy makers to pursue an independent and nationalist program of economic development. Unlike what the leaders of our successful neighboring Asian countries did, our economic policy makers, the neo- liberal technocrats in particular, abandoned nationalism in favor of a narrow type of agro- industrial development model dependent on the exportation of light export products, the uncertain flow of foreign investments and a high level of dependence on foreign borrowings. The performance of the economy in the last three decades speaks volumes on the weaknesses of this model. The Vice President of the Republic, Honorable Teofisto Guingona, and the FTA Convenors led by former Senator Wilberto F. Tanada, came to the conclusion that the three-fold challenge of reviving the economy, putting if back on the growth path and ensuring its capacity to create jobs and livelihoods for all Filipinos requires a basic re- thinking of the existing but failed economic policies and a revival of the nationalist ideas in the economic sphere.
    [Show full text]
  • Fair Trade: Social Regulation in Global Food Markets
    Journal of Rural Studies 28 (2012) 276e287 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Journal of Rural Studies journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jrurstud Fair Trade: Social regulation in global food markets Laura T. Raynolds* Center for Fair & Alternative Trade, Sociology Department, Clark Building, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, United States abstract Keywords: This article analyzes the theoretical and empirical parameters of social regulation in contemporary global Regulation food markets, focusing on the rapidly expanding Fair Trade initiative. Fair Trade seeks to transform Globalization North/South relations by fostering ethical consumption, producer empowerment, and certified Fair Trade commodity sales. This initiative joins an array of labor and environmental standard and certification Certification systems which are often conceptualized as “private regulations” since they depend on the voluntary participation of firms. I argue that these new institutional arrangements are better understood as “social regulations” since they operate beyond the traditional bounds of private and public (corporate and state) domains and are animated by individual and collective actors. In the case of Fair Trade, I illuminate how relational and civic values are embedded in economic practices and institutions and how new quality assessments are promoted as much by social movement groups and loosely aligned consumers and producers as they are by market forces. This initiative’s recent commercial success has deepened price competition and buyer control and eroded its traditional peasant base, yet it has simultaneously created new openings for progressive politics. The study reveals the complex and contested nature of social regulation in the global food market as movement efforts move beyond critique to institution building.
    [Show full text]