Latin America
Related: About this forumColombia signs FTA with EU
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/economy/24786-colombia-signs-fta-with-eu.html.Colombia's Minister of Trade, Commerce and signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union in Brussels on Tuesday, President Juan Manuel Santos confirmed in an official statement.
"Today our governments send a clear signal to investors and businesses to raise their expectations and aspirations so that all citizens may have a more optimistic future," said minister Sergio Diaz-Granados.
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According to Diaz-Granados, the FTA will benefit Colombia's industrial and agricultural sectors and is expected to double trade within the next eight years. The trade deal will reportedly allow 99.9% of Colombian industrial exports to have tariff-free access to European markets, and, according to Diaz-Granados, will help Colombia compete with the host of other countries that already have FTA agreements with the EU like Mexico and Chile.
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In the finalization of the agreement Tuesday, the EU required Colombia to guarantee "labor inspections that could lead to strict penalties for the mistreatment of workers."
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)Broadly speaking our supermarkets are 100% Fair Trade bananas.
Chicquita can go fuck itself.
Bacchus4.0
(6,837 posts)The Banana is the most popular fruit in the world. We spend more than £10 billion a year on them! Bananas have long been a popular fairtrade product, and several supermarkets now only sell bananas certified with the fairtrade mark. In 2008 one in every four bananas sold in the UK was fairtrade, but where do they all come from?
Colombia
Fairtrade is benefitting the community and the environment in Asoproban farms in Colombia. Members have access to courses in dental health care, preventive health care and hygiene as well as accountancy and audit techniques. The Agricultural Committee has cut back aerial crop spraying by three cycles to protect workers and the environment. Asoproban now sprays less than many large Colombian plantations but achieves the same levels of quality and productivity.
A consumer who buys a Fairtrade banana knows that they are contributing to the life of a small producer here in Colombia, and whats more, they are contributing to a whole lot of different causes and are supporting the health and wellbeing not just of the banana producers but their whole community Deris Ariza, Asoproban
http://smoothiecast.co.uk/fairtrade/where-do-your-fairtrade-bananas-come-from/
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)Last edited Wed Jun 27, 2012, 02:36 PM - Edit history (1)
only that they are Fair Trade and not Chicquita whatever.
Check out the EU Banana row with the USA sometime too.
Bacchus4.0
(6,837 posts)are so dominant that they can be designated as fair trade if their working conditions meet the fair trade conditions whereas for other agricultural products fair trade products likely comes from smaller operators and cooperatives, and also includes environmental safeguards.