A recent report by the Sweden-based whistle blower Swedwatch finds that Finland’s favourite wines are being produced under questionable circumstances in foreign vineyards. Local NGOs are calling on the state-owned alcohol monopoly Alko to improve its buying practices.
Nearly half of the wines consumed in Finland are produced in vineyards in Chile, Argentina and South Africa. A report by the Swedish human rights watchdog Swedwatch last year revealed that vineyards in these countries routinely commit human rights abuses: in some cases workers are underpaid, unions discouraged, women and immigrant workers are exploited and living conditions are sub-standard.
Finland’s state alcohol retailer Alko told Yle it has inspected vineyards in Argentina and Chile and this spring will check on producers in South Africa.
Alko corporate social responsibility manager Marjo Aho says the company has received written assurances from its suppliers that they will adhere to ethical work practices.
“This is a very challenging matter. We are committed to our suppliers and in 2012 we received their written assurance that they are implementing these ethical practices in their delivery chain,” Aho said.
One local NGO believes that Alko isn’t doing enough to ensure that wine producers put their money where their mouth is. Lotta Staffans of the organisation Pro Ethical Trade Finland says that as a state-owned company in the international arena Alko is in a position to affect the lives of ordinary vineyard workers.
“Alko is a state-owned monopoly business which means that it is a big player in the international market and in that regard the game rules it lays down could have a major impact on these peoples’ lives,” she noted.
The NGO isn’t calling on Finns to boycott these imported wines, but wants to remind the monopoly concern of consumer interest in the working conditions of hundreds of thousands of vineyard labourers.
Purchasing ethical trade products offers consumers a guarantee that wine producers aren’t violating workers’ human rights. All the same wine-lovers don’t seem to be especially wild about ethically produced labels.
Last year Alko’s ethical trade products accounted for less than one percent of alcohol sales. That represents just over 900,000 litres of the almost 100,000,000 litres of booze that Finns consumed - half of it wine.
Source: YLE
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