Dreaming of a different kind of FTA
The Hankyoreh | Seoul | 19 July 2006
Dreaming of a different kind of FTA
Kwon Taesun, Editorial Writer for the Hankyoreh
Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist, and prolific author, says that there is a universe even in a sheet of paper. He means that in order to make a sheet of paper, the entire universe, including clouds, sunlight, trees, and the saw should cooperate. It is same with a cup of coffee. A cup of coffee also contains a universe, such as soil, wind, sunlight and the farmer’s efforts. In an interview with the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief, a nongovernmental organization (NGO), Lawrence Segua, a farmer of Uganda, said, "I want you to know that the root of our problem" is that the world drinks a lot of coffee. "The coffee makers take the coffee beans which we grow by our hard labor almost free of charge." His complaints make sense, because the consumer price of one kilogram of coffee beans is about 26.40 USD on average in the Western world, but the farmers receive only about 14 cents, less than 60 percent of the production cost.
Mohamed Andris of Ethiopia could maintain livelihood by producing seven sacks of coffee beans five years ago. Now, "I can’t live even if I sell four times that amount. Three of my children stopped studying and I sold a cow to pay my debts," he said.
South Korea’s agricultural sector, under a free trade agreement, would suffer similar disastrous situations. Before 1989, when the U.S. withdrew from the International Coffee Agreement, producers and consumers could control the supply. As the U.S. left the agreement and nations such as Vietnam began supplying coffee, the balance of supply and demand was broken, leaving a chronic excessive supply and thus lowering prices.
NGOs such as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief suggest a new FTA as an alternative of such unfair trade situations. The new FTA is not a free trade agreement, but rather a "fair trade agreement." The fair trade movement pursues justice in international trade in cooperation with consumers. This movement began when the U.S. civic organizations bought handicrafts made by the indigent of Puerto Rico in the 1940s, and is expanding into markets such as coffee and rice. It has appealed to consumers, and transactions under this "fair trade" system have increased over 20 percent annually since 2000.
The movement appeals to consumers because it promotes sustainable development through a producer-consumer partnership, and it can change management practices at companies, especially those taking issue with the suspect ethics of large enterprises. The European Parliament adopted a resolution to support fair trade on July 6.
A fair trade movement has begun to develop in South Korea, as well. The nation’s activists have started a ’small alternative trade’ to support the livelihood of migrant workers who were driven out of Korea. The Beautiful Store in Seoul sells handicrafts made by people from third-world countries. The store has also begun to produce coffee beans after importing Nepalese coffee under the tenets of fair trade. It aims to open a chain of coffee shops like Starbucks, with an ambitious plan to spread the fair trade movement across the nation.
Given the options, then, which type of "FTA" should we choose?
