Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-02-11-Speech-2-223"
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"en.20030211.10.2-223"2
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".
The fall in coffee prices is indeed catastrophic. I think we are all aware of the impact of these price changes on coffee-growers, which, as we have known for a long time, is only one stage of a general problem, namely the dependency of poor countries on a few basic products. We have carefully noted the figures sent to us by Oxfam, which address in particular this vast difference between the retail price in supermarkets and the sum paid to growers. We have not assessed all this and we are not in a position to say whether the trade margins applied by one company or another are reasonable, taking account of processing costs, transport costs and retailers’ profit margins, amongst other factors.
This being the case, if non-governmental organisations such as Oxfam consider, for example, that the practices of certain companies might need to be subjected to an enquiry pursuant to competition rules – I am referring here to the European Union – they should provide us with the necessary evidence so that we can proceed as we normally do in this type of case.
What is the cause of this collapse? It is quite simply a considerable imbalance between supply and demand. What can we do? It is a complex, multi-faceted issue. We can, for example, help those who have invested in fair trade and are thereby trying to help producers in the poorest countries to obtain a higher proportion of the price paid by the end consumer. In the Commission, we already help, support and fund various actions in this field. We support, and I do so within the context of trade policy, projects aimed, for example, at the adoption of codes of conduct or social labels. In this way, if I may say so, we support all those who have invested in fair trade.
In the long term, however, diversification is probably the key that will make it possible to reduce dependency and vulnerability among these countries and peoples in the face of fluctuations in basic products. That is part of an integrated approach between development policy and trade policy, on which, as you know, we have already been working for several years, with Mr Nielson. We are trying to achieve better coordination of the various instruments available to us. For example, we began with the ‘Everything but arms’ initiative, which allows a number of countries among the poorest in the world to diversify their exports. This is a policy that we have, if I may say so, supported and passed on, moreover, to various international organisations such as the World Bank. We are also working along these lines in applying the Cotonou Agreement. In addition, we have supported, within the International Coffee Organization, all the actions undertaken to improve quality and set minimum quality standards, thereby removing the poorest quality coffees from the coffee market, since these, as we know, have also had an adverse effect on prices.
More simply, we are currently working with a number of NGOs and Oxfam, in particular. We have made contact with the main coffee merchants and we are in contact with a number of distributors. We are open to constructive ideas on this matter, which, I repeat, is complex. In any case, that is an example that should give pause for thought to those who advocate the total liberalisation of all agricultural markets."@en1
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