Until 1st October 2016 the petition “Lidl, I want you to play fair!” is underway. The objective is to promote social justice in all and for all the food supply chain of tropical fruit – from the field to the supermarket shelf. To pay a fair price and to respect the human and labour rights are the key to success to a sustainable production.
This initiative takes place within the Make Fruit Fair Project, implemented in Portugal by IMVF. More recently, the European Parliament also showed its concern about the unfair trading practices.
On 7th July 2016, the members of European Parliament voted in favour of the polish MEP Edward Czesak’s report ‘Unfair trading practices in the food supply chain’. Thus, EU Parliament calls the action of European Union to help farmers fighting against unfair trading practices.
Upon a report by Europe Economics, Unfair Trading Practices such as payment delays, retroactive changes to contract terms, and unjustified cancellation of a contract are estimated to cost suppliers €30-40 billion a year. In a survey carried out in 2011 by the CIAA (Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the EU) and the AIM (European Brands Association), 96 per cent of respondents in the food supply chain said that they had been exposed to at least one form of UTP.
The Global Citizenship team of IMVF congratulates the Portuguese MEPs who were mobilized in favour of fair trading practices and establishment of fair commercial relationships in the food supply chain. “We now hope that the European Commission adopts a clear directive, in which the Human Rights are grounded in every practices of the food supply chain”, adds the team.
See the report ‘Unfair trading practices in the food supply chain’ here.
More information about the campaign ‘Lidl, ready to play fair’ here and sign the petition here.