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I’ve been trying to support Blog Action Day 2008 on the blogs on which I write. This year’s topic is “Poverty” and this video I think is a sobering reminder that we parents can contribute to the fight by simply watching what we buy!

If you have a blog, please spread the word by participating in Blog Action Day! 


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Green Options: What gave you the idea or motivated you to launch Fair Trade Sports?

Scott James: My passion is fighting extreme poverty and the problems caused by it. Fair Trade Sports is built to generate after-tax profits for children’s charities, from a Fair Trade foundation (e.g. adult workers - not coerced children - paid fair wages and ensured healthy working conditions). It also helps that I believe in the Fair Trade model and I’m a lifelong soccer player.

GO: You’ve gotten a lot of recent attention lately from Outside and Plenty magazines. Describe your "guerilla marketing" techniques and how this fits into a green business model.

SJ: (Laughing) It starts with having no marketing budget! We don’t need to support multi-million dollar marketing campaigns and sports star’s paid endorsements; instead, we ask our customers and champions to spread positive word of mouth about our mission and our quality products. True word-of-mouth is a great fit for any green business - just think of the resources you are saving (e.g. the trees needed and transportation costs for a direct mail postcard).

GO: Why are 70% of the world’s soccer balls made in Pakistan?

SJ: According to a myth, the sporting goods industry started in Sialkot, because an English man broke his tennis racket and, since an immediate replacement was not possible, he asked a local to repair it. The man did a perfect job, and the sports goods manufacturing industry took root in Sialkot.

Recorded history of the industry goes back to 1895 when the city started becoming famous for its tennis racquets. By 1903, cricket bats were being crafted from imported English willow and exported to different parts of South Asia and beyond. In 1922, one Mr. Syed, was awarded the British Empire Export Award for supplying footballs to the British Army. Over the years, the industry grew to include a variety of wood and leather-based sports equipment, and diversified into related industries such as sports apparel and riding equipment and even the Scottish bagpipes.

GO: Have you ever visited your manufacturer Talon in Pakistan?

SJ: Not yet; several of my business partners have multiple times. I started this company while my wife was pregnant (perhaps not the best timing). We just had our daughter a few weeks ago, so I expect to go sometime soon. I’ll take a video and photo crew to capture the story of our workers there.

GO: What is considered a living wage in Pakistan?

SJ: 4X the standard wage paid to adults.

GO: How are you assured that fair trade practices are utilized in the production of your merchandise?

SJ: FLO does unannounced spot checks of facilities and records for compliance. Their documentation is fairly complete.

GO: Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) states that child labor has been "virtually eliminated" from this industry; however, you do not agree. Please explain.

SJ: The FLO document that makes that incorrect statement is still a good overall document on the positive programs happening at Talon, including their medical program - a first in the sporting goods industry in Pakistan. However, child labor has definitely not been "virtually eliminated" from the industry…not even close. Anyone can Google "Nike and Saga Sports" to see a long, repeated history of failures in this area.

GO: How can you afford to donate all of your after tax profits to charity?

SJ: Like Newman’s Own (the salad dressing and popcorn brand), we’re committed to giving away our "after-tax profits". Keep in mind that after-tax profits are defined as what’s left over after you pay items like salaries, utilities, and of course, your raw inventory. Each year, we’ll also retain a small portion of our proceeds to fund the following year’s growth (likely ~10%).

What’s left over usually gets distributed to shareholders. Given that my wife and I are the sole shareholders, and we are not interested in making Fair Trade Sports a wealth-generating operation, we decided to funnel the after-tax profits towards children’s charities. We expect to reach profitability in late 2007. Until then, we are donating $1000 annually to these organizations to benefit at-risk children worldwide.

GO: Can you describe some of the charities you donate to?

SJ: Yes, right now we donate to Room to Read (international children’s libraries) and the Boys & Girls Club of America. The idea is to help at-risk kids both here in the states and the communities where we source our sports balls.

GO: I love the alternative sleeve t-shirts! These shirts are produced by independent trade members. How do independent trade unions provide a solution to sweatshops?

SJ: The tee shirts are hip, for sure. The alternative sleeve gets alot of double-takes from people when you walk down the street. Everyone should check out USAS (http://www.studentsagainstsweatshops.org/) as well as the ILRF (http://www.ilfr.org/). Just a little bit of reading will show you a world of alternatives out there to sweatshops, as we’ve used for our tee shirt line and new technical training shirt line.

As the Fair Trade movement moves into the consciousness of society, so too does the exploitations that occur when fair trade criteria are not met. The past year has highlighted an unlikely, but important, sect of production in Pakistan. Pakistan is one of the world's leading producers of surgical instruments, approximately 20%, though the producers see little, if any, of this $US650 million dollar industry. Sweatshops, employing adults and children as young as seven, are producing our scalpels, scissors and other items at a high social cost for their low prices. "Some 50,000 people are involved in making stainless-steel surgical tools in Sialkot; around 7,700 of them are children." Health problems abound in these dangerous working conditions as workers suffer from various ailments, back and neck injuries to eye and lung problems from the grinding, milling and corrosive chemicals used.

These problems in Pakistan and elsewhere were exacerbated in 1994 by the US when legislation passed which set international quality standards for all surgical goods. While maintaining standards is certainly beneficial and important to consumers, it had an adverse effect on the workers, as production of identical products leaves only price as a competitor, and that's been lowered at the expense of the laborers.

In 2000 a program was launched by U.N. International Labor Organization and the Surgical Instrument Manufacturers Association of Pakistan to work towards ending the child labor in this industry. A similar program producing sport equipment such as soccer balls found success and international acclaim. The negative impact, however, was not so well publicized. Many children under the age of 14 found themselves out of work. With no money to eat, and sometimes supporting other members of their family, these children were forced to find work elsewhere, such as in surgical instrument production. The only permanent solution to end child labor is to pay the adults a fair wage, and ensure they are not killed or maimed due to dangerous work environments so that their children may attend school.

Public awareness of these atrocities is limited, as surgical instruments go through many wholesalers, sometimes "even stamped 'Made in Germany' at the request of middlemen worried about Pakistan's image." Societal outcry is further muffled due to lack of knowledge, as few patients are aware of where their doctors and hospitals source their vast amount of equipment and supplies. The burden then falls upon medical professionals, who are aware where the products come from and have the power to instigate change, and they have begun to do so.

Doctors in the UK recently called upon the National Health Service (NHS) "to establish fair trade agreements with companies making high-quality surgical equipment in Pakistan." This would help establish more direct trade with the producers, who are currently receiving approximately $2 for instruments which sell to hospitals at $80. Cutting out the middle man will put more profit in the producers hands, as well as create direct and transparent trade to ensure Fair Trade criteria are met. Dr Peter Tiplady, of the BMA’s public health medicine and community health division said, "Our gut reaction would be to boycott this production but this is not the answer because the poor will get poorer and the rich will get richer. Fair trade is the answer. It already exists for products like sugar and tea, so why not medical instruments."

The next time you visit your doctor or hospital, ask where they purchase their instruments and if they are aware of the current push to ethically source these products. Encourage them to use their power as consumers to ensure they were made in a safe environment by adults being paid a fair wage.