[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 97 (Wednesday, July 17, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1283]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF A HOUSE RESOLUTION URGING THE GOVERNMENT TO PURCHASE 
                      FAIR TRADE CERTIFIED COFFEE

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                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 17, 2002

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a group of my colleagues to 
introduce a resolution recommending the use of fair trade coffee by the 
Congress, the Judicial Branch, and the Executive Branch. This 
resolution requires very little effort from us and yet would promote 
efforts to assure a decent standard of living to poor coffee farmers 
around the world.
  Small Coffee farmers in Latin America, Africa and Asia consistently 
do not receive a living wage for their coffee. In fact, many farmers 
receive an amount that is less than the cost of production. Millions of 
small farmers earn only 5-10 percent of the final retail price of their 
coffee due to the interference of coffee middlemen who take a huge cut 
from the sales. This creates a cycle of debt and poverty in the lives 
of the farmers. These farmers must constantly borrow money from the 
coffee middlemen to stay afloat, and yet they can never make enough 
money to support their families, let alone get out of debt.
  As a major purchaser of coffee, the U.S. has a responsibility to 
ensure that the producers of that coffee are adequately compensated for 
their work. And as the Congress, we can do our part to ensure that we 
pay a fair price for the coffee that is purchased for our own use. 
Starbuck's has successfully brought fair trade coffee to their shops. 
In addition, Starbucks currently brews it for retail sale and makes the 
beans available for purchase. The use of fair trade coffee is already 
being implemented in some of the House of Representatives cafeterias, 
but we need to do more.
  Transfair USA is a non-profit U.S. based organization that certifies 
coffee is ``fair trade'' by placing a seal upon all the bags that 
qualify. In order to determine if the coffee is fair trade, 
representatives visit the farms in the countries in which the coffee is 
grown in addition to monitoring the sale and distribution within the 
U.S. The criteria for fair trade coffee are as follows: (1) Coffee 
importers agree to purchase from the small farmers included on the 
international trade register; (2) farmers are guaranteed a minimum 
``fair trade price'' of $1.26 per pound for their coffee; (3) coffee 
importers provide a certain amount of credit to farmers against future 
sales to help the farmers stay out of debt to coffee middlemen; (4) 
importers and roasters agree to develop longterm relationships with 
producer groups that cut out the coffee middlemen.
  Fair trade coffee has been sold since 1988 in Europe, which has 
imported 30 million pounds this year, as compared to the 7 million 
pounds imported by the U.S. Fair trade coffee currently represents 5 
percent of the Swiss and Dutch markets. It is time for the U.S. to show 
that we are interested in supporting the 800,000 small coffee farmers 
that currently benefit from the fair trade relationship.
  The story of Blanca Rosa Molina provides testament to the benefits of 
fair trade coffee. She has been working in the Nicaraguan coffee 
industry since she was a little girl. The money she received from fair 
trade coffee allowed her to receive an education and provide for her 
family. In her own words, ``I always give thanks to fair trade coffee 
because if it hadn't been for fair trade, I wouldn't have sold my 
coffee. I wouldn't have been able to pay for my studies.'' Blanca now 
holds an undergraduate degree in engineering and a graduate degree in 
rural development and sustainable agriculture. With stories like this, 
the choice as to purchase fair trade coffee is an obvious one.
  Fair trade coffee is no more expensive than gourmet coffee, but 
provides so many benefits to the producers that it is hard to justify 
not buying it. There is also still plenty of coffee to go around. 165-
170 million pounds of fair trade coffee are being produced each year, 
but only 35 million pounds have been sold worldwide. There is a strong 
supply of fair trade coffee; all that is currently needed are 
purchasers like the House of Representatives.
  The Resolution we are introducing today recommends that Congress, the 
Judicial Branch and the Executive Branch exclusively purchase fair 
trade coffee for all of their offices and events. It sends an important 
message about the willingness of our Federal Government to aid farmers 
in other countries by supporting family farms and in turn promoting 
better labor practices world-wide.




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