From poverty to power - Oxfam-Québec

5 THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM TRADINGdepriving poor countries and producers of many of thepotential benefits of trade.TNCs have used their increased market power to claim anever larger slice of the cake. In the early 1990s earnings by coffeeproducingcountries were some $10bn–$12bn and the value ofretail sales of coffee, largely in industrialised countries, about$30bn. Now the value of retail sales exceeds $70bn, but coffeeproducingcountries only receive $5.5bn. 108 Such control canprevent poor countries from breaking into the more profitable‘value added’ parts of the commodity chain, for exampleprocessing coffee or making chocolate, rather than simplyexporting the raw materials.• Labour rights: In sectors as diverse as food, clothing, andelectronics, retailers have responded to cut-throat competitionby pushing risks and costs down the supply chain, with devastatingeffects on the men and (mainly) women in far-flungcountries who produce the goods. Oxfam’s research on 11independent, small- to medium-sized garment factories inTangiers that produce clothes for Spanish retailers found intensework schedules to meet demands for quick turnarounds, oftencompounded by abuses such as forced overtime, denial of evenelementary rights such as being able to use the toilet, and shortcutsthat endanger health and safety (see page 157).One study shows that in developing countries TNCs themselvesare generally less likely to kill, injure, or abuse localworkers and populations than domestic companies. 109However, the incapacity or unwillingness of TNCs to assumeresponsibility for the conditions under which their suppliersproduce the goods that they sell constitutes an obstacle in thefight against poverty and inequality.• Oil, gas, and mining: In countries such as Sierra Leone,Angola, and the DRC, violent warlords have used revenuesfrom the mines owned or linked to both national companiesand to TNCs to buy arms and pay off their supporters, fighting‘resource wars’that exact a devastating human toll. More broadly,TNCs have done little to stem the corruption that is common inthe extractive industries,thus undermining political stability and345