Fair Trade.. is it really?

I have seen many customers at Marks and Spencer's paying a higher price to buy 'Fair trade' items. Once a customer told me, “I would rather go for the Fair Trade items, so that it could benefit the poor people and they get a fair price for their work”. Well, I thought... is it really Fair trade?

What is Fair trade? I just searched on the Internet to find a definition and according to The Fair-trade Foundation it is:

“Fair-trade is a strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Its purpose is to create opportunities for producers and workers who have been economically disadvantaged or marginalized by the conventional trading system. If fair access to markets under better trade conditions would help them to overcome barriers to development, they can join Fair trade.”

So Fair trade means, creating opportunities for workers and producers, giving them a fair price for the good purchased so that their conditions can get better off. But is this really the reality? I know this is how is should be but is it really how it is?

During my undergrad, we attended an additional certification course of the ISO-9001. It was just a 2-day certification course. We were more interested in getting the certificate then actually listening to what the course instructor was teaching. But it seemed pretty much basic for us. It seemed as if it was just normal, this is how it should be, there should be proper lighting, there should be an adequate space, fire exits etc. But when I was doing an internship, at a Textile firm and I realized that things are not the way they are supposed to be. That Textile mill was ISO certified, but when I spoke to one of the colleagues I asked him, do you really follow ISO? He said, 'Well we do get visits from officials ever so often to see if we are following it or not, but when they are due, we change the things a little bit and get the certification". I know ISO is not related to Fair Trade in any way. But the reason to mention ISO is, that things are not being implemented the way they should be. There was a big board that crossed through my eyes every day I walked in through the main doors; it was the Wal-Mart compliance board. I can't recall all the points, but the one that really stunned me was, that the daily wage for labour workers would be a minimum of 99 rupees (approx 70-80 pence) per day. I don't really understand how 99 rupees per day can benefit employees. I wondered is it really compliance? Is it really being followed? So I am not entirely sure, if compliances really works and completely unsure how Fair-Trade would work? There are only particular lines that are Fair trade. But first of all, the market is so competitive, that how are the producers supposed to get a fair price for it? And even if they do will they really pass it on to the labour working on daily wages? And for once if I think that this extra margin that they do earn for Fair trade is being passed on... how is it exactly being passed on?

In a textile mill, there are large orders processing all together. So for instance, a few labour workers are working on Type A non fair trade and a few on Type B fair trade items, in the end how will their wages be decided? Will the labour workers working on the Type A be less fortunate then the Type B workers?

In reality, I guess there is no fair trade. I do not really think that the extra money, if the producers get any, benefits the labour workers in any way. Will they think about deepening their own pockets, and will pass it on to their sales and marketing team rather than to increase the wages of the labour workers and that too just for a particular line. Which might not be significant at all!

I have also seen here, a debate about child labour. I am not in favour of child labour but I have one question, what after you ban child labour? Are you going to feed their families? Provide them with education? If not, then, what will those poor kids end up like? Being street beggars? The question is that people in the west do not understand the level of poverty and that it cannot be cured easily. They just think, that if they ban child labour that will be it! They just think that if they pay more money for buying a 'Fair trade' item, then this benefit will surely go to them... But are things this simple?

It is just a marketing tactics. I have seen, two exactly same T-shirts, of nearly the same quality, one with a higher price for being 'FAIR TRADE' they other a cheaper make... but ultimately they both come from the same place, both made under the same circumstances and both produced by the same people, earning exactly the same!