Written answers

Wednesday, 22 November 2006

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Fair Trade Network

9:00 pm

Photo of John DeasyJohn Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 343: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if there are proposals, both at a national and an EU level, to promote Fair Trade products; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39652/06]

Photo of Michael AhernMichael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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Irish Aid provides financial assistance to the Irish Fair Trade Network to support its activities in Ireland. This will amount to a total of €410,000 over the period 2005 to 2007. Irish Aid also plays an important role in supporting capacity building for fair trade producers. Thus, for example, small coffee producers in Central America were provided with funding of €567,000 for the period 2003 to 2006. It is through initiatives such as these in the areas of product promotion and capacity building that the fair trade niche market will expand and develop further through opening new markets and presenting opportunities to fair trade producers.

At the wider EU level, Ireland, in common with other EU Member States, has placed a very clear emphasis on the need to assist developing countries and, in particular, least developed countries, in their integration into the world economy, as a necessary condition for their future development. Such integration, which is one element in the process of poverty reduction in developing countries, will be deeper and fairer if anchored in the multilateral trading system.

Proposals under the umbrella of the Aid for Trade (AfT) initiative, being promoted by Members of the World Trade Organisation, for example, provides the framework in which substantial resources will be made available to developing and least developed countries to help them grow their trading potential. Under the Aft initiative, the contribution of the EU as a whole, including the Community contribution, on trade-related assistance in response to needs prioritised by participating countries, will reach €2 billion per year, by 2010.

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