Sandhurst Fairtrade Group

FAIRTADE FASHION SHOW October 17th, at St Michael’s Church Pastoral Centre, 8pm, tickets on sale early September price £6

So why do we need Fairtrade?

What's wrong with Free Trade, which is what we have now?

We have heard a lot about the campaign MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY in the press, and on television. We are giving millions in aid, so what is going wrong?

Since the early 1980's the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have forced developing countries to deregulate and liberalise their markets as a condition of receiving loans. Rich countries provide heavy subsidies to their farmers. Poor countries under the agreement are not allowed to. If we take the example of rice, which is grown in America, this is so heavily subsidised that America sells it at 34% less than it costs to produce. Under Free Trade Agreements America then "dumps" it's surplus cheap rice on poor countries, this undercuts local rice farmers causing their rice farming to collapse, and throwing people out of jobs. Poor countries have also been forced to cut their Tariffs (import duty). The main occupation of poor countries is farming. So food production is of vital importance.

In the Philippines debt repayment deals were thought to have put 200,000 markets vendors and small shops out of business when they were forced to open their markets to rich foreign large shops. Poor countries are forced to pay off their debt repayments before they set aside money for their health care and schools.

Privatisation of services has also been part of GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) Hitherto, poor countries have had their debts reduced by allowing their water to be privatised into the hands of rich companies, who then increase the price of water overnight out of the reach of many. For example, in Manila, the price went up 200%.

The EU must drop its demand that former European colonies open their markets and give more rights to big companies. We must ensure that poor countries are able to regulate foreign investment in a way that suits their needs instead of the needs of rich countries.

World coffee prices have plummeted in the past decade, with farmers often selling their crop for less than it costs them to grow it. Yet in our supermarkets at home the price hasn't gone down at all; it's multinationals who are profiting.

MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY is asking for…

• Debt cancellation without strings attached
• Trade Justice and Fairtrade
• More and better Aid

Free Trade sounds good doesn't it? But unfortunately it benefits only the rich and the poor get poorer.

MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY believe that one of the biggest obstacles of Fairtrade is that the majority of people do not know enough about how trade works.

Right Corporate Wrongs

The Trade Justice Movement is campaigning for the government to make new laws that ensure UK companies respect the rights of people and the planet.

You can help to right corporate wrongs by joining thousands of people across the UK and lobbying MPs. For more details on the campaign and details of actions you can take go to www.tjm.org.uk.

If you would like to know more visit…

• www.tjm.org.uk (trade justice)
• www.makepovertyhistory.org
• www.christian-aid.org.uk
• www.ccow.org.uk

or email us at info@sandhurstfairtrade.org.uk