• by Selina Rust (united nations)
• Thursday, April 01, 2010
• Inter Press Service

The majority of European supermarkets failed to take adequate responsibility for labour conditions and fair-trade relationships in their food supply chains, a new report revealed.

The report, 'Checked out: Are supermarkets taking responsibility for labour conditions in developing countries?' by Consumers International, examined six European countries and asked whether consumers found it easy or hard to make sustainable choices.

It revealed an inadequate and, at times, contradictory approach to addressing unacceptable labour conditions in the developing world.

Leading supermarkets in Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain were surveyed on their policies relating to labour conditions and trading relationships in developing countries.

'We concluded that these supermarkets are not taking their responsibilities seriously enough,' said Catherine Nicholson, senior project coordinator with Consumers International.

'Consumers need to know that what they bought was not at the expense of other people's human rights,' she said.

Although European consumers are increasingly concerned about the impact that their choices can have on others, it is clear that supermarkets' Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives do not always apply to all products.

Overall, supermarket policies and codes of conduct fail to ensure that trading relationships are fair.

Only six out of 17 companies reported that their policies include the provision that contributions for promotions should be voluntary.

Only five out of 16 companies include a commitment to a living wage, and only three reported a complaints mechanism.

However, there was also evidence of good practices. Relatively speaking, Coop Italia was found to have the most consistently good policies overall, followed by Coop Denmark.

The report also shows that there is a need to incorporate issues of sustainability into all levels of decision-making.

It encourages supermarkets to publish clear information about their CSR policies as well as governments to introduce 'right to know' legislation for consumers.

The survey focuses on food supply chains since the weekly grocery shop is the most regular form of consumer contact with supermarkets and food is a key product for trade between European supermarkets and developing countries.

In many European countries, the largest five supermarket chains account for more than two-thirds of the grocery market.

Estimates show that in Europe, only about 110 purchasing managers employed by supermarket chains act as intermediaries between 3.2 million farmers and 160 million consumers.

That leads to an imbalance between large European companies and smaller companies in developing countries, which are less likely to have effective legislation and well- resourced systems to ensure basic labour rights.

Through this power, buyers can squeeze suppliers' income which results in producers making very little or no profit, or even losses while prices to consumers are much higher.

'We are talking about less than cost for produce, we are talking about casualisation of labour, increased insecurity, issues around and representation of collective bargaining,' Nicholson told IPS.

'The situation of workers, their families and communities gets worse. It is important that consumers can relate to this and see that this is affecting people who are just like them,' she said.

To avoid the injustice of conventional trade, there are a number of different standards, such as labels that include the working conditions in which goods are produced and the way in which they are treated.

The Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO), which owns the Fairtrade Mark, is the only existing standard that guarantees suppliers a minimum price for their products, tackles poverty and improves the quality of their lives.

As Easter approaches and sales of chocolate increase, Fairtrade especially highlights the concern about the ongoing problem of child labour in the cocoa industry.

'It is a globally shaming that children around the world continue to be exploited in dangerous and abusive work conditions,' said Rob Cameron, FLO's CEO. 'In this day and age and with such widespread knowledge of the issue, it is simply unacceptable.'

An estimated 218 million children are involved in work around the world, 126 million under the worst forms of child labour.

More than one million children are employed in the cocoa-farming sector in West Africa.

Fairtrade's goal is to assist in solving the problem instead of imposing harsh punitive measures that push farmers into deeper poverty, and could put even more children at risk, the groups says on its website.

'We must all - governments, NGOs, child welfare organisations, the chocolate industry, farmers' groups and consumers - work together to fulfill our duty: to eliminate child labour,' Cameron said.

An increasing number of consumers feel that supermarkets should pay suppliers enough to ensure decent wages for their employees, even if this means higher prices for themselves.

That is why fairly traded products like are increasingly available in supermarkets.

The conversion of some supermarket's own brands, as well as the conversion of other brands, led to dramatically increased sales of these products in some European countries.

'We have to be very careful that these labels and products are reliable and clear,' Nicholson told IPS. 'If somebody buys a product because of a particular label and they find out that this is not reliable, it is going to be even harder to convince them to continue sustainable living.'

© Inter Press Service (2010) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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