Fair prices for farmers

sir – Sainsbury’s has announced that, in a matter of weeks, its shelves will carry packets of tea under its own “Fairly Traded” label, rather than tea certified by the Fairtrade Foundation.

Since 1992, the Fairtrade Foundation has delivered a scheme to give decent working conditions, local sustainability and fair terms of trade for millions of farmers and workers in developing countries. To consumers, the Fairtrade mark has become synonymous with ethical trade and quality.

Sainsbury’s risks undermining all that has been achieved over the last 25 years. The alternative standards are unclear, and farmers and producers may no longer themselves be able to decide directly how money raised is spent to help their communities.

We urge Sainsbury’s, currently the largest retailer of Fairtrade products, to reconsider its plans to launch an alternative scheme that, as it stands, does not promise a better deal for the world’s poorest farmers and workers. Penny Lawrence

Deputy Chief Executive, Oxfam GB Charlotte Timson Director, Traidcraft Exchange Ed Mayo

Secretary General, Co-operatives UK and five others; see telegraph.co.uk