payable to Fairtrade Foundation UK, which nearly all goes on marketing. That is to say virtually all the extra margin is pocketed by firms and organizations in the rich countries. The failure to make it to consumers that the sale of Fairtrade is overwhelmingly a profit making venture by British firms is unethical and possibly the offence of ‘Unfair Trading’: customers should know whether they are giving to a charity or to a supermarket chain. Some consumers believe that the extra money they pay when they buy Fairtrade is a charitable donation to farmers in the Third World. It is Trading’ when ‘Unfair ‘the commercial practice fails to identify its commercial intent’ or hides or misrepresents ‘the identity of the trader, such as his trading name, and the identity of any other trader on whose behalf the trader is acting’ . That is to say the ethical implication, if not the letter of the law, is that nobody, not the traders, nor the supermarkets nor the brand owner, should, by act or omission, falsely claim to be acting on behalf of Third World Farmers, or collecting charitable donations for them. Kickbacks and ‘Blackmail’ The figures in the last section for the amount reaching the exporter are based on the prices that the importers from the rich countries are supposed to pay to the Fairtrade exporters, that is the Fairtrade minimum price or the world price plus the Fairtrade premium. If these prices are not paid, the coffee is not Fairtrade and may not be sold as such. However, there have been repeated reports that the buyers from the rich countries do not pay the guaranteed Fairtrade price. Fairtrade farmers produce two to seven times as
payable to Fairtrade Foundation UK, which nearly all goes on marketing. That is to say virtually all the extra margin is pocketed by firms and organizations in the rich countries. The failure to make it to consumers that the sale of Fairtrade is overwhelmingly a profit making venture by British firms is unethical and possibly the offence of ‘Unfair Trading’: customers should know whether they are giving to a charity or to a supermarket chain. Some consumers believe that the extra money they pay when they buy Fairtrade is a charitable donation to farmers in the Third World. It is ‘Unfair Trading’ when ‘the commercial practice fails to identify its commercial intent’ or hides or misrepresents ‘the identity of the trader, such as his trading name, and the identity of any other trader on whose behalf the trader is acting’ . That is to say the ethical implication, if not the letter of the law, is that nobody, not the traders, nor the supermarkets nor the brand owner, should, by act or omission, falsely claim to be acting on behalf of Third World Farmers, or collecting charitable donations for them. Kickbacks and ‘Blackmail’ The figures in the last section for the amount reaching the exporter are based on the prices that the importers from the rich countries are supposed to pay to the Fairtrade exporters, that is the Fairtrade minimum price or the world price plus the Fairtrade premium. If these prices are not paid, the coffee is not Fairtrade and may not be sold as such. However, there have been repeated reports that the buyers from the rich countries do not pay the guaranteed Fairtrade price. Fairtrade farmers produce two to seven times as