20 February 2006 - Caroline Lucas, South-East England’s Green Party Euro-MP and an official delegate to the World Trade Organisation talks in Hong Kong last December, will take part in a Fair Trade Discussion day organized by Southampton ’s Make Poverty History Group.

Dr Lucas, a member of the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee and a director of the US-based International Forum on Globalisation, will join Harriet Lamb, Director of the Fairtrade Foundation, and Matt Griffith of the Catholic development agency CAFOD for the city’s second annual forum on trade, sustainability and development.

“The rules of international commerce mean free trade is prioritized over fair trade – and this benefits big businesses in the wealthier north over consumers, the developing world – and our fragile environment,” she will say.

“With an ever increasing flow of goods travelling the world – everything from Zambian beans being flown to English supermarkets during the height of our own season and thousands of tonnes of waste paper being sent to China for recycling – we are becoming increasingly dependent on fossil fuels and free access to poorer economies with lower wages, poorer workers’ rights and lax enforcement of environmental standards.

“The rules of international trade must be changed to rectify this imbalance, which is increasing the gap between rich and poor, both between and within countries, and fuelling climate change and oil dependency.”

The discussion day, which kicks off with a cup of fairly traded coffee at 9am, will consist of each speaker giving a short presentation, followed by a group discussion, and a showing of a film produced by the Nicaraguan Solidarity Campaign about women coffee producers in the Latin American nation.

The discussion will carry on into the afternoon – with attendees invited to bring a packed lunch. It has been sponsored by the Co-operative group and entry costs £3 (£1 concessions). The venue is wheelchair accessible.

Dr Lucas added: “The WTO must be replaced by a General Agreement on Sustainable Trade which incorporates the principles of fair trade and localisation . Far from making poverty history, the current system risks making it inevitable.”

ENDS