The court in Alkmaar decided again that it is possible for municipals to add fairtrade criteria in public procurement documents! This means a reliability for Fairtrade Towns not only in the Netherlands too. Last week Douwe Egberts lost preliminary relief proceedings it had initiated against the municipalities of Den Helder and Alkmaar. The preliminary relief judge ruled that these municipalities had correctly included the criteria for fair trade in their tender documents.

Den Helder and Alkmaar would like coffee that satisfies the criteria for fair trade. Douwe Egberts, a Dutch coffee roaster, initiated preliminary relief proceedings, in which it was found to be in the wrong. In the past, municipalities had successfully included the criteria for fair trade. In a quite similar case in 2007, the preliminary relief judge also rendered a positive judgment: the Province of Groningen had formulated the criteria for fair trade correctly.

Stichting Max Havelaar pleased with support of municipalities

Stichting Max Havelaar has been campaigning for over twenty years to raise consumer awareness of fair trade. The international Fairtrade mark embraced by the Max Havelaar Foundation primarily focuses on small farmers in disadvantaged situations, where poverty is often extreme. In order to tackle that poverty and give farmers a fair chance at development, social and environmental criteria have been supplemented with criteria that ensure that the price farmers receive will at least cover their costs. This is a unique model, the success of which has been demonstrated over the years by many studies (see the study at the end of this release). A growing number of companies (such as Ben & Jerry’s, Starbucks and Verkade), consumers and Dutch municipalities (such as Goes, Rotterdam, Groningen and Houten) are opting for this model and are making a difference by buying or selling Fairtrade products. Stichting Max Havelaar favours a coffee market in which multiple sustainability approaches make the market economically fairer and more sustainable. To achieve sustainability, many roads lead to Rome as well. However, the Foundation does believe that municipalities must be free to express their preference for fair trade if this is how they seek to contribute to fighting poverty in developing countries.

Peter d’Angremond: ‘We are thrilled with this judgment and we feel endorsed by it. The preliminary relief judge fortunately found for the municipalities. Their wish to contribute to the fight against poverty and to sustainable development in developing countries by means of fair trade conditions has been honoured. It’s a victory for fair trade and the small farmers it empowers.’

Fair trade: a separate option in sustainable public procurement

October saw the release of a Cabinet letter that fleshed out the social criteria for its sustainable procurement policy (see the weblink at the bottom of this release). The policy recognises several sustainability criteria, including fair trade standards. In other words: municipalities that would like to incorporate fair trade standards may do so in accordance with government policy. Peter d’Angremond, director of the Max Havelaar Foundation: ‘The policy looks good and is now being fleshed out to allow municipalities to easily incorporate the fair trade standards. Hopefully they will no longer need to account to the judge anymore. Accordingly, my advice to municipalities that want to buy coffee in accordance with the fair trade standards is to keep close track of the government.’

Read the full Judgment of the Preliminary Relief Judge