BSI still committed to inking Commercial Agreement; are Fairtrade premiums at threat?

By Aaron Humes: BSI/ASR is not prepared to commit to extending the current Commercial Agreement through the end of the forthcoming season, but is prepared to sit down and talk out a new agreement before the expiration of the original agreement in January.

Additionally and only if necessary, BSI/ASR would be prepared to ink individual agreements with BSCFA members and deliver cane.

Notably, BSI/ASR is putting together the numbers on a new cane price formula that moves away from the original Net Stripped Value (NSV) toward a gross payment as argued by the BSCFA, but in a way that does not hurt the millers.

Fairtrade requires as part of its contracts that an agreement between parties exists and is maintained.

While not commenting specifically about how Fairtrade would view the current impasse, Mac Maclachlan of BSI/ASR made note that his company respects Fairtrade’s value to farmers and the standard of quality it represents.

On the matter of the Sugar Industry Amendment Act abandoned on Monday, Maclachlan said that on the whole less government regulation is more welcome for business and the private sector to be allowed to drive economic growth and set the tone without intervention.

BSI/ASR has reached out to the BSCFA to follow through on the discussion of the proposal as early as next week.

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