The UK's first "fair trade" bananas go on sale on Monday, aimed at giving Third World workers a better deal.

The fruit will be imported from independent producers in Costa Rica instead of from multi-national corporations.

A "people-friendly" stamp of approval will be displayed on the approved fruit to enable shoppers to identify them.

The stamp indicates that the people who produced the bananas received a fair price and a fair deal.

The fruit will be available in the Co-op and some branches of Sainsbury's.

A spokeswoman for the Fairtrade Foundation, which set up the scheme, said the approved bananas were grown in a small co-operative in Costa Rica, where working conditions were much better than in many of the larger plantations.

She said the group was trying to set up a similar scheme in the Windward Islands.

Sainsbury's Commercial Director Ian Merton said: "As a company we are committed to a Fair Trade policy wherever possible."

The Fairtrade Foundation helps Third World producers of tea, coffee, cocoa, bananas and honey receive a fair share of their trade.

'Excellent news'

Secretary of State for International Development Clare Short described the move as "excellent".

She said: "When British shoppers choose Fairtrade Mark bananas they will have better bananas and help improve the lives of many poor producers."

Phil Wells, director of the Fairtrade Foundation, said: "Six out of 10 UK shoppers say they would like to buy fair trade bananas. If they do, tens of thousands of banana producers can look forward to a better future."

Bananas are now the most popular fruit in the UK, with £750m spent on them a year. Demand has doubled in the last 15 years.

However, despite the thriving market, many banana workers are badly paid, have to put up with poor living conditions and suffer the effects of harmful pesticides.

Battle over bananas

The move follows a transatlantic trade war over EU banana imports.

Europe has long favoured imports of bananas from its former colonies in the Caribbean, but the World Trade Organisation found the practice illegal after complaints from the United States.

US companies dominate the trade in bananas from Central America.

Caribbean exporters say the WTO ruling could have a serious effect on their countries' economies.

They fear that losing their favourable trading arrangement with the EU would give a trading advantage to their Latin American rivals, whose production costs are generally lower.

Many of the Caribbean producers operate in countries whose economies are largely dependent on banana exports.