CLAC 2008 Assembly

This year, top issues on the table included the current economic and ecological crisis’ and their impact on Fair Trade. “We cannot address the usual issues – prices, productivity, internal communication and how to increase markets – without recognizing the impact that the current economic crisis may have on our markets and our movement,” explained current CLAC President Raul Aguilar. “We also need to better understand environment issues and the impact that global warming will have on our productive areas. In this new world context, we need to meet the challenges with more creativity in our approach and problem-solving.”

The Assembly began with a crash course on economics provided by the Guatemalan Ministry of Development and Commerce. But despite the sobering panorama – the conclusions were constructive with proposals to strengthen the institutionalized operations within CLAC and to strengthen the alliances between CLAC and other producer networks in Africa and in Asia, as well as with industry and other promotional initiatives within the Fair Trade movement.

This gathering comes on the heels of a series of regional meetings and “product-specific” network discussions organized throughout 2008. Focusing specifically on the role that the Fair Trade Labeling organization (FLO) network could and should play, the discussion became increasingly heated. Clearly the top concern was the participation of transnational corporations within Fair Trade markets and the ripple effect that was having on producer cooperatives and their place in the broader movement. One after another, producer representatives gave testimony to the negative impact the large companies were having in their regions – from promoting minimal standards on contracts to encouraging FLO to register transnational exporters on the producer list. There was clearly a general sentiment that FLO – under which the majority of CLAC members operate –is supporting marketing positions in the name of increasing markets… but which could lead to the demise of producer organizations, if the large companies are not brought under control.

CLAC representatives warn that current tendencies within FLO are leading to unfair competition within the FLO register and come at the cost of producer empowerment and development – the very building block of Fair Trade! In response to this trend, the CLAC recommends that FLO and its labeling initiatives across the globe create and implement explicit actions to reverse current standards, which increasingly resemble the rigged rules of “free trade” commerce, and to immediately address producer claims of unfair practices committed by these new, corporate actors within FLO.

At the same time, the CLAC examined Fair Trade certification and the administrative and economic barriers it represents for small producers who have trouble understanding and/or paying the cost of the service. They hope that FLO will consider revising the certification process with the goal of turning it into a tool for development instead of a “fair trade police force” based upon a rigid set of regulations – often out of context of real life situations facing small-scale farmers.

In addition to lowering the cost of certification, the CLAC recommends that labeling organizations co-validate initiatives that monitor the same basic production and trade standards in order to avoid the need for double certification. They would also like to see a “localization” of FLO in the sense that people and groups from the producer’s country are the ones responsible for inspections and certification instead of a distant, international body. Above all, the CLAC wants to eliminate what they see as discrepancies between the criteria placed on producer groups and those of other actors in the trading system.

Despite the criticisms, the CLAC recognizes the efforts that have gone into building a Fair Trade market to date and agrees that together we must continue to construct alternatives for the social and economic development of small-scale farmers who have been marginalized by conventional rules of trade.

Meanwhile, as CLAC legal representatives met to elect their new Board of Directors, a group of 11 Fair Trade importer and social finance representatives – CoopCoffees among them – gathered to discuss the importance of information-sharing around common issues, including: pricing, supply, creating a collective position vis-à-vis FLO criteria and certification, as well as exploring what we might be able to do together to improve institutional and productive capacity within producer groups we all work with.

We discussed the importance of good communication and shared experiences around concrete examples from last year’s harvest… and we realized that we already have access to a large data base of information around market issues and basic contact information about producer groups, if we were open to share this information.

We also recognized that there already exist excellent learning tools for marketing, management and production training activities, which we should gather under one roof. We encourage the development of an “on-line library” of these tools, and suggest that they be made available to the CLAC for further development and use with their producer organizations.

Through gatherings such as this, the CLAC is actively asserting its voice and position in the broader Fair Trade movement. With this new-found momentum, the CLAC hopes to encourage a “return to the roots” of Fair Trade – with a basic and primary objective of supporting small-scale producers through healthy, mutually beneficial terms of trade.

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