Meeting of the Parliament 25 March 2025
I join members in welcoming the continued recognition of Scotland as a fair trade nation. It is a testament not only to the work of campaigners and businesses that promote and stock fair trade goods but to Scotland’s role as an outward-looking global nation.
A Scottish Labour Government kick-started the process in 2007 for Scotland to be recognised as a fair trade nation. However, the history of the movement goes far beyond that. The modern fair trade movement is said to have started after world war two with an American woman called Edna Ruth Byler, who would buy lace products from women in Puerto Rico for a truly fair price and sell them to her friends. She said:
“I’m just a woman trying to help other women.”
Those simple principles of support, fairness and trade justice remain to this day.
Since then the movement has grown massively, with the UK’s own fair trade certification turning 31 this year, generating millions in premiums for producers, improving their lives, and building their communities.
Edinburgh has played a role in the fair trade movement. On George Street, in the centre of the city, sits Hadeel, a fair trade shop selling Palestinian goods and providing a source of income for artisans and farmers. The University of Edinburgh is one of Scotland’s three universities with Fairtrade status. Edinburgh itself gained Fairtrade city status in 2004.
The Edinburgh Fairtrade city steering group organises events marking Fairtrade fortnight such as the Fairtrade festival and displays in Edinburgh’s libraries. That commitment has led to Edinburgh hosting the Fair Trade Towns International conference this August, bringing together producers and campaigners from across the world to discuss the benefits of fair trade and how we can use fair trade to meet the sustainable development goals.
I have heard at first hand about the impact of fair trade through the cross-party group on Bangladesh. We heard from a representative of Community Crafts, a fair trade organisation that has operated for more than 40 years, giving marginalised women the opportunity to make a fair wage by creating products from upcycled saris. Those products are sold right here, in Edinburgh, at One World Shop, which I visited last year and which has sold only fair trade goods for more than 40 years. The representative from Community Crafts was in Scotland to find more buyers for their goods. That shows the strength of feeling towards fair trade here in Scotland, and its powerful global effects.
However, given the continued prevalence of poor working practices and exploitation in the production of the clothes that we wear, or the technology that we use every day, there is still much more to achieve. Fair trade in Bangladesh, especially, can be a powerful force for achieving climate justice. Producers in the global south can be considered to have done the least to cause the climate crisis, but they face the greatest loss from climate change. For a multinational corporation, a changing climate may mean a loss on the balance sheet, but for a small-scale farmer, it means losing their livelihood. With fair trade, producers are better able to adapt and protect their livelihood and communities.
I note the story of Colombian coffee co-operative Red Ecolsierra, which, through fair trade, was able to invest in sustainable growing practices, such as shade trees and better coffee drying. However, we must keep working to maximise the benefit of being a fair trade nation.
Colin Smyth has already discussed procurement and a standard definition, which are positive steps. We should also be looking to further encourage businesses across all sectors to adopt fair trade practices and to support them to build sustainable ethical supply chains by renewing and strengthening the Scottish businesses pledge.
I would welcome any further work to embed and encourage the principles of fair trade all across our economy. The strength of the fair trade movement in Scotland is something that we should be proud of. While much of the world seems to be turning inwards, with fair trade, we can make a positive case for co-operation and friendship.
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