Hansard

I very much welcome the opportunity to debate the topic of Scotland as a fair trade nation. In the course of my remarks, I will talk about the progress that we have made in relation to the purchase of fair trade products internationally, but I also want to spend a little time looking at what is happening in Scotland in relation to giving a fair deal to producers here.

As the cabinet secretary has already said, Scotland is a fair trade nation. On 10 March this year, Scottish Fair Trade announced that we had retained our status, stating that all five criteria that we require to meet to be a fair trade nation had been met. However, Scottish Fair Trade made a series of eight recommendations for keeping the fair trade movement going, including on the need to improve data and legislation, to connect with supermarkets and to work with the public to keep ethics a high priority.

We know that, across Scotland, there is considerable consumer support for the concept of fair trade. The latest figures, from March 2024, tell us that 85 per cent of Scottish consumers say that they buy a fair trade product at least once a year, with 66 per cent—two thirds—saying that they buy one at least once a month. Despite the rising cost of living, there is little evidence that those figures are going into decline, which shows that, even when economic times are tough, people still recognise the value of fair trade.

What is fair trade? Essentially, it is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries to achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. Generally speaking, producers who are part of the fair trade movement can expect higher prices for their products. They can pass that extra money on to their workers in better pay and benefits, and it can also be used to help to improve environmental standards.

The fair trade movement originated in relation to commodities that were typically exported from developing countries, such as coffee, cocoa, sugar, fruit, flowers and gold. The Fairtrade Foundation works with farmers, producers and more than 1,900 producer organisations across 68 countries. In 2023, UK sales of fair trade products generated £28 million in fair trade premiums for farmers and workers—that was money over and above the cash that they would otherwise have received for their products.

A number of years ago, I had the privilege of visiting Malawi as part of a visit with a number of other parliamentary colleagues. We saw for ourselves at a coffee plantation the value that fair trade brought to the workers there. It allowed them to enjoy a level of income and job security that simply would not otherwise have been possible.

Public agencies here can lead by example on the purchase of fair trade products, and here in the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body has been very clear that fair trade products should be used wherever possible. However, ultimately, fair trade is driven by the consumer. If individuals recognise the value of the Fairtrade label and understand the benefits that it brings, they can choose to use their spending power to support the initiative, even when it might cost them a little bit extra. As I highlighted earlier, the evidence shows us that Scottish consumers are prepared to continue to support the fair trade programme, even though it might mean them paying a small amount extra to do so.

It has been good to see many local communities across Scotland embracing the concept of fair trade. In my region, Aberfeldy became the first Fairtrade town in Scotland, in 2002, and Kinross-shire became the first Fairtrade county in Scotland, in August 2005. Those were both communities in which active people came together to push for the label to be adopted, and I am sure that other members will have similar stories of communities in the areas that they represent similarly embracing the concept of fair trade.

Although the focus of the fair trade movement is on international imports of commodities, such as coffee, we should not lose sight of the wider concept of fair trade for producers at home, which is a topic that is mentioned in my amendment. A consistent and regular complaint that we hear from farmers and food producers in Scotland is that they do not see sufficient focus on the purchase of locally produced food. Such a focus would not only support local employment but help the environment by reducing food miles. However, too often, we see supermarket shelves lined with fruit and vegetables that might well have been flown thousands of miles to get here, even though there are alternatives available that are produced closer to home.

That frustration is felt particularly when it comes to public procurement. Over the years, I can recall many occasions on which we have debated the need for procurement rules to better support local economies and local producers. Such support is particularly needed when it comes to the provision of food, such as for school meals or catering in hospitals, where there is an opportunity to purchase what is produced locally, which would put money back into the local economy.

Too often, in the past, national health service boards and local councils have hidden behind Scottish Government procurement rules to say that preference cannot be given to local producers. Similarly, the Scottish Government has hidden behind European Union procurement rules. Now that we are no longer in the EU, those excuses carry little weight.

When the Parliament’s Economy and Fair Work Committee took evidence recently for its post-legislative scrutiny of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, we heard examples of good practice, where local authorities are making the effort to provide healthy, nutritious meals that are produced from local ingredients. That is very much to be welcomed, and I was encouraged to see Argyll and Bute Council providing venison on the school menu to support the local industry and local gamekeepers. I would like to see that initiative rolled out more broadly. However, that practice is not universal. We need leadership from the Scottish Government to ensure that we are providing fairness for the very substantial public sector spend in supporting local business.

There is a legislative opportunity to address some of those issues through the Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced last week and which I had the pleasure of reading over the weekend. The bill’s intention is to ensure greater support for local economic operators to access public sector contracts and to use public procurement to facilitate the generation, circulation and retention of wealth in the local economy.

That all sounds very welcome, but my initial reading of the bill leaves me with a whole list of questions, which I will raise as the bill progresses through its committee stage. In essence, the bill requires ministers to publish a community wealth building statement. There are similar obligations on local authorities and relevant public bodies, including health boards, colleges and enterprise agencies, to work together as community wealth building partnerships. It all sounds very heavy on strategy and the publication of documents, and rather light on outcomes. It would be a pity if the bill was not a significant opportunity to address the concerns that have been raised with us over many years by local businesses about their difficulty in accessing a fair share of public contracts. I am sure that we can pursue that issue in the Economy and Fair Work Committee and in the chamber as the bill progresses.

My amendment to the motion also makes a wider point about the benefits of free trade more generally. We have a new US President who is threatening to impose trade tariffs, which might or might not end up hurting UK exports. We should be unequivocal about championing free trade. Trade barriers hurt growth and cost jobs, so let us be clear that free trade is a positive. Let us encourage the UK Government in particular to look for new trade deals across the world with countries such as India, which will help Scottish and British businesses to grow.

I am happy to put on the record our party’s continuing support for the concept of fair trade and to join the cabinet secretary in celebrating Scotland’s position as a fair trade nation.

I move amendment S6M-16923.1, to insert at end:

“; recognises that free and fair trade is the most powerful engine for poverty reduction and global prosperity; affirms that open markets, trade liberalisation and the entrepreneurial spirit are central to Fair Trade; believes that protectionism and arbitrary trade barriers harm the very producers and communities that Fair Trade seeks to support; calls on all MSPs to actively champion global agreements that allow Scotland’s businesses to compete, innovate and lead on the world stage, and further calls on the Scottish Government to support the full potential of, and critical work already performed by, local producers by properly accounting for them in its public sector procurement rules and guidelines.”