On Friday 11th June, the German Bundestag approved the "Supply Chain Act" (Lieferkettengesetz) to ensure due diligence and human rights within the supply chain of products sold in Germany.
Germans, who consume almost 12kg of bananas per person a year, eat 3kg of bananas more than the EU average and their retailers play a key role in the banana supply chain. Hamburg harbor is the gateway for more than 25 percent of bananas imported in Europe and Lidl, Aldi, Edeka or Rewe are the biggest buyers in all the EU.
The Ecuadorian Banana Cluster is organizing "Towards a Fair Banana", an online event explaining how this law will affect the banana industry. The event will also address challenges and opportunities for the banana industry within the regulatory framework of this law.
The event will feature keynote speakers from the German National Parliament, political leaders, industry experts and representatives of the German civil society, divided into two discussion panels.
Panel 1: "Shared Responsibility": addressing the development of a scheme that distributes costs fairly throughout the supply chain.
- Juan José Pons: Ecuadorian Banana Cluster coordinator
- Daniel May: Action Alliance for Sustainable Bananas (ABNB) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
- Isabel Albornoz: ambassador- head of mission of Ecuador to the European Union and ambassador of Ecuador in Belgium and Luxembourg
Panel 2: "Development of the Supply Chain Law in Germany": to discuss how the law affects third country producers and will be enforced.
- Jose Antonio Hidalgo: executive director of the Association of Exporters of Ecuadorian Bananas (AEBE)
- Uwe Keketitz: German politician, member of the Bundestag for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
- Alexander Kulitz: German politician, member of the Bundestag for Freie Demokratische Partei, FDP
- Peter Möhringer: policy and advocacy, Faitrade Germany
The audience will have the opportunity to ask questions and the event will be simultaneously translated in English, Spanish and German.
The Ecuadorian Banana Cluster encourages you to participate in this event which will take place on the following date:
Wednesday, June 30, 2021
10.00-11.00hs (Guayaquil time)
17.00-18.00hs (Brussels time)
Registration can be done here.
For more information:
Juan José Pons
Ecuadorian Banana Cluster
Coordinador@clusterbananerodelecuador.org