Déirdre de Búrca (Green Party)

I wish to share my time with Senator Mary White.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kitt, to the House and thank him for his statement on fair trade. I also welcome the opportunity to participate in this debate during Fairtrade fortnight. I acknowledge the long record of support by Irish Aid of the Fairtrade movement and the hard work of the Irish Fair Trade Network, which is supported by the Government and has been responsible for the huge increase in consumer awareness in this country and elsewhere of the concept of fair trade. A Senator said earlier that fair trade equals trade justice but, unfortunately, the trading rules that apply in the international trading system at present contain little that is just.

As other Senators have said, however, there is a growing awareness on the part of consumers that price cannot be the only criterion on which they base their purchasing decisions. They must consider also issues such as the conditions in which particular products are produced, labour standards, health and safety regulations and, critically, the price paid to producers for goods. The origin of the Fairtrade movement is the realisation that producers in developing countries often are paid very little for the primary commodities they produce. The commodities are taken over by middle men and large multinational corporations end up benefiting from the prices paid in the developed world for the processed goods or products. The producers do not benefit from the enormous profits to be made from the sale of their products in the developed world. The Fairtrade movement is about guaranteeing, despite market fluctuations, a fair and consistent price to the primary producers of these goods.

I wish to discuss the issue of trade in general. This debate gives us an opportunity to highlight the fact that the World Trade Organisation at present is developing an international system of trade rules that are blind to many of the issues we are discussing today. The Doha round is supposed to be about recognising the special development needs of developing countries, but the reluctance of the developing countries to conclude that round suggests they are not happy with what the developed world is trying to convince them is a good deal for their countries. Although I accept the sincerity of Senator Quinn's remarks, I am not sure I agree with him with regard to the supposed rationale for the attempt to bring developing countries into the world trade system and increase their export markets and so forth. The World Trade Organisation and the free trade agreements that are negotiated within that organisation do not always recognise that there are differing levels of development between the developed and developing world and that we cannot consider developing countries as being in a position to compete on equal terms with the developed world. Unfortunately, little special provision is made or few special conditions are allowed for developing countries in the way the trade agreements are hammered out.

There appears to be an attitude that if developing countries develop their export markets and get access to markets in the developed world, it will create more prosperity. In fact, many developing countries are at subsistence level in terms of agricultural production and are incapable in many instances of producing for the export market, and if they are it is at the expense of their home market and feeding their own population. The issue is far more complex than just opening up markets. Often, the European Union and the United States are at the World Trade Organisation seeking, above all, market access to the developing countries. They see them as greenfield markets of consumers where they can peddle their products and create new demand for them. Many of the markets in the developed world are saturated with these products and they are no longer in demand. There is a certain amount of cynicism, so we should examine carefully the rhetoric of free trade and the concept that simply removing barriers to free trade will somehow cause all boats to rise. I do not believe that is the case. Special and differential trade rules are required for developing countries based on their particular levels of development, but these different levels of development are not generally recognised in the trade agreements concluded in the World Trade Organisation.

Like other Senators, I welcome the Fairtrade movement and its objectives which are to make trade more ethical and fair and to ensure everyone benefits in all parts of the world, not just the developed world which is at a competitive advantage in terms of negotiating power, penetrating markets and selling products. I hope Ireland will play its part in discussions within the Council of Ministers on trade agreements. The way trade policy has developed at European Union level has been most unsatisfactory to date. It has lacked transparency and the European Parliament, until now, has had little or no input into decision making on, or the content of, trade agreements. I ask the Minister to use his good offices in the discussions taking place in the Council of Ministers to raise these issues and to ensure the developing world gets a fairer deal.