Full and Fair Trade

Background

The push for a unified set of international "Fair Trade" standards that would genuinely reflect what happens on the ground and  truly benefit primary producers in developing countries is not over yet. Criteria or protocols have been set up for a wide range of commodities (eg Coffee, tea, cocoa, vanilla, certain handicraft products etc) to confirm their Fair Trade status in export markets. At the present time, no protocols have been established by the Fairtrade Labelling Orgainisation (FLO) for Fairtrade with coconuts.

We are currently (2009) associated with three fair trade models

• Kokonut Pacific's Fair Dinkum Fair Trade
• The general Fair Trade Principals
• NASAA Social Justice policy

Kokonut Pacificis a foundation member of the Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand (FTAANZ) which is closely linked with the international FT organisation FLO. FTAANZ is currently working with European groups to establish suitable criteria for coconuts.

Fair Trade

NASAA Social justice general principals

taken from NASAA website

Social justice and social rights are an integral part of organic agriculture and processing.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Operators should comply with all International Labor Organisation (ILO) conventions relating to labour welfare and the UN Charter of Rights for Children. All employees and their families should have access to potable water, food, housing, education, transportation and health services. Operators should provide for the basic social security needs of the employees, including benefits such as maternity, sickness and retirement benefit. All employees should have equal opportunity and adequate wages when performing the same level of work regardless of colour, creed or gender. Workers should have adequate protection from noise, dust, light and exposure to chemicals that should be within acceptable limits in all production and processing operations. Operators should respect the rights of indigenous peoples, and should not use or exploit land whose inhabitants or farmers have been or are being impoverished, dispossessed, colonised, expelled, exiled or killed, or which is currently in dispute regarding legal or customary local rights to its use or ownership. Contracts should be fair, open to negotiation, and honoured in good faith.

STANDARDS

• Where national laws fail to address social justice then operators shall have a verbal or written policy on social justice. Operators who hire fewer than ten (10) persons for labour and those who operate under a state system that enforces social laws may not be required to have such a policy. At a minimum, and where relevant, such a policy should include
• In cases where production is based on violation of basic human rights and clear cases of social injustice, that product cannot be declared as organic. The certification applicant shall not engage in or support the use of corporal punishment, mental or physical coercion or verbal abuse.
• Operators may not use forced or involuntary labour.
• Employees and contractors of organic operations have the freedom to associate, the right to organise and the right to bargain collectively.
•  Operators shall provide their employees and contractors equal opportunity and treatment, and shall not act in a discriminatory way.
•  Operators shall not hire child labour. Children are allowed to experience work on their family’s farm and/or a neighbouring farm provided that
  •  Such work is not dangerous or hazardous to their health and safety
  • It does not jeopardize the children’s educational, moral, social, and physical development
  • Children are supervised by adults or have authorisation from a legal guardian
• Employers shall provide all employees with potable drinking water, latrines or toilets, a clean place to eat, adequate protective equipment and access to adequate medical care.
• All employers shall ensure that workers have received safety training.

Kokonut Pacific recognised for Fair Trade work

The European Commission carried out a study in its 2002 Work Program to investigate Responsible Entrepreneurship (RE) for Small and Medium Enterprises ((SMEs). “Responsible Entrepreneurship means how to run a business in a way that enhances its positive contribution to society whilst minimising negative impacts on people and the environment. Responsible Entrepreneurship is, therefore, a way of adding value to both the business and society.” RE denotes voluntary business strategies to achieve the EU’s definition of sustainable development and is fully in line with the notion of corporate social responsibility, which the EU has defined as

"a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis".

Kokonut Pacific has worked within this definition and framework since its inception by being involved in socially responsible activities without being familiar with the CSR concept per se.

This was recognised by the Asia Pacific Forum for Environment and Development (APFED) when it presented the 2006 Ryutaro Hasimoto Gold Award (First Prize) to Kokonut Pacific Solomon Islands for the work it was doing in ‘Rehabilitating a rural economy with virgin coconut oil production’.