Fighting Fair

George Robinson wrestles with the issue of really fair trade.

World trade rules are bananas The rules controlling trade heavily favour rich nations If Africa, Asia and Latin America increased their share of world exports by just one per cent, they would earn enough money to lift 128 million people out of poverty

I have always found political delicacy remarkably frustrating. An unjust policy cannot, and should not, be defended to protect the sensibilities of a particularly tetchy demographic. It is cowardly politics, and best illustrated by the continued subsidies afforded by western governments to their agricultural industries. Western leaders are terrified by the political confrontation that would ensue if these inefficient industries were shut down. The millions of third world farmers whose livelihoods are crushed by this protectionism are powerless to instill such fear because they are voteless.

Protectionism is the practice of shielding ones own industries from the full force of the free market. It is expressed in various ways: placing tariffs on imported goods; subsidies for native industries; ‘quotas’ to prevent the dumping of cheaper foreign goods. The great monument to this policy of protectionism is the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This embarrassing anachronism consumes 43 Billion Euros of the EU’s Budget, and saves our inefficient farming sectors from competition of the more efficient and effective third world markets.

Despite this protectionism, with startling hypocrisy the western democracies fervently promote the ideal of the ‘free market’ on the global stage, and espouse it as the most effective means to raise developing economies out of poverty. Nevertheless, the wealthiest nations continue to provide their native farmers with these astronomical subsidies that stifle the growth of agricultural sectors of developing economies. Farmers in the developing world would produce goods far more efficiently than their western counterparts if they were permitted to compete on a level playing field.

Though third world farmers are seemingly powerless to affect the mood of our governments, we have votes, and we can galvanise change. The more we expose the injustice of policies such as these, the more pressure will be placed on our representatives to push for reform. I am sure of the strength of these arguments; I think the battle lies in raising awareness of this issue. Once people see the absurdity of this policy, which is morally and financially bankrupt, they will drive for change. That is why campaigns which fight for fair trade, like Oxfam’s big noise, are so important. They will convince those in power that ‘unfair trade’ registers on our electoral radar, and that it is actively damaging their chances of electoral success.