Suvi Arapkirli
Translated by Linus Atarah
Cotton passes through many hands before being processed from seed fluffs and ending up as clothing on the shelves of Finnish shops. Fair trade cotton guarantees that there is fairness in the cultivation conditions but overseeing the whole production chain is difficult. About 100 million people around the world earn their living from cotton cultivation. For 10 million people cultivating and processing cotton is the only means of income. But prices of cotton have fluctuated widely, stemming from among other factors the growing popularity of synthetic fibres such as nylon polyester.
The single major reason for the fall in cotton price however, is due to subsidies paid to farmers in the United States, the EU countries and China for producing cotton which leads to over production and affects the prices paid to other producers. During the farming season 2003-2004 over 70 per cent of United States cotton was dumped on the world market.
Fair trade certified cotton is now cultivated in India, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali, Peru and Senegal. Along with the usual price guarantee farmers and the environment benefit from the fair trade system of strict obligations to reduce agricultural chemicals and to protect water systems and the soil.
Only 2.4 per cent of the world's arable land is used for cotton cultivation but consumes up to 10 per cent of all pesticides used in the world. Lake Aral is known to have been destroyed primarily as a result of cotton irrigation.
When the origin is known so will the working conditions
Pirjo Virtaintorppa, production chief responsible for the cotton sector in the association for promoting fair trade, stresses that only cotton cultivation is certified in the system. Certification does not yet apply to the whole production chain in textile manufacturing.
However, every intermediary must be registered with the international Fair Trade Organisation (FLO). For instance every spinner, tailor or dyer has to attach a social evaluation form which indicates an approval of SA8000 (social responsibility guidelines) or some other FLO ethical criteria.
- But we are unable to oversee the problem. We are honest and we don't promise anything in relation to the whole production chain, Virtaintorpa states.
In her opinion every Finnish consumer should, on the whole, begin to ask the origin of imported commodities from developing countries.
- The consumer should demand information on the origin of the product from the producer and the retailer. When the origin is known, perhaps so will the conditions under which the product was produced. Then at that point it is possible to provide a response to the consumer and he or she can make a choice.
A study conducted by FinnWatch last year titled "Clothes from the south" pulled together procurement information about social and environmental responsibility. It involved the 13 biggest Finnish companies in the textile trade and fashion industry.
- With regard to the procurements of Finnish companies, the results are worrying. Finnish companies are not used to being asked questions about the factory conditions of sub-contractors, and many made it known that asking questions was very rare. On the basis of the responses given, the fundamental problem of the subject was unknown to many managing directors, the report states.
Virtaintorppa recalls that a Finnish brand easily makes Finnish people think the clothing was produced in good conditions adhering to all International Labour Organisation's (ILO) standards.
"Brand does not guarantee anything"
There are examples from Central Europe about the fact that businesses make their own decisions to shift to fair trade products and do not transfer the responsibility to make that choice onto the consumer. Britain's Sainsbury chain last year moved into selling only fair trade bananas while Marks and Spencer on its part only fair trade coffee and tea.
Virtaintorppa hopes that companies in Finland would also make such ethical decisions. She states that when the volumes begin to increase prices paid by individual consumers would also come down.
At the end of February Nanso launched its new collection of clothing made of fair trade cotton exhibited in a fashion show. The clothing is produced in Finland beginning from the thread, i.e. making the fabric, sewing and cutting is done in Pirkanmaa.
The cotton is spanned into thread by Topkapi Iplik in Istanbul. Seher Akinci says the company meets the conditions set by many environmental and labour standards, among others SA8000 guidelines. These are subject to outside inspection. The branch chairman of Teksifin, one of Turkey's big textile workers unions at Topkapi, Naim Akin, says he took part in the auditing activities last year.
Akinci portrays the labour conditions in Topkapin Iplik in a very positive light compared to other factories in the sector in Turkey even though working hours in the country is still the usual 45 hours a week for six days a week.
- Payment is done on time, overtime is compensated, machinery is modern and air the condition system functions, Akinci elaborates.
He states that minimum salary is received by perhaps a quarter of Topkapi Iplik's workers belonging to the textiles union. The rest receive higher salaries according to their work experience and skills. Even the highest salaries are still much lower than that estimated by the Turkey statistics bureaux as required to moderately support a family of four.
Advertisements manoeuvre the consumer
Finlayson also launched its version of fair trade cotton products, towels and bathroom carpets in the beginning of March. The ambassador of fair trade Mr. Erkki Toivanen reminded people in a press conference that the EU pays more subsidies to its cotton farmers than the United States.
Spreading information about the products, raising the self-awareness of Finnish consumers and through that increasing ethical consumption are the key to the success of fair trade, Jouko Salakka, managing director of Finlayson believes.
Commercial manager Fredrik Gotthardt also conceded that the choices of consumers can be effectively manoeuvred by advertisements.
- The consumer does not invent anything. He or she gets his information tips from promotional material or from advertisements.
Gotthardt says that Finlayson will not yet take paid advertisements on its fair trade products this spring. He promises that the visibility will rise later as the range of fair trade products increases to include printed material such as blanket covers.
Most of Finlayson's fair trade cotton comes from Cameroon. The rest is manufactured by a Belgian firm Clarysse. Director of logistics Kirsi Alanen says Clarysse uses both Öko-tex and Eco label standards. These guarantee that in the manufacturing processes no material harmful or dangerous to human beings or to the environment is used. Work agreements are obeyed.
Spinning the cotton as well as the Clarysse's process is overseen by Max Havelaar, a Belgian fair trade organisation.
Photos: Fair Trade Media
