About Fair Trade

The Fair Trade Movement

The Fair Trade movement has been in existence for over thirty years, when a number of people and development agencies decided to do something positive to help the ever growing number of people in the developing countries living in poverty. While the rich countries grew richer the poor countries of the world became poorer, with western trade structures helping to keep people in poverty.
 

With the help of development agencies co-operatives were set up for the small-scale farmers and producers to work together and fight the injustice. The products were sold direct to the development agencies and were marketed through their catalogues and shops, enabling the consumer to buy products on a fair trade basis.

Today, thousands of workers and producers are benefiting from Fair Trade. They receive a fair price for their goods and are able to work in a safe and healthy working environment. The guaranteed income means they will no longer be affected by the impact of fluctuating commodity prices, which can send many small scale producers deep into debt, where they can lose their land and their entire family becomes homeless with no means of earning a living.

Consumers and Fair Trade

As a consumer you have great power through your ability to choose which product to buy. Advertisers spend millions of pounds trying to get you to buy their product, but ultimately it is you who makes the decision whether or not to buy that product.
Over the past few years consumer awareness of Fair Trade products has grown enormously and is increasing every year thanks to major campaigns from organisations such as the Fairtrade Foundation and charities such as Oxfam. Fair Trade labelling has been in use since 1986, enabling the consumer to buy in confidence.
 

By choosing to purchase Fair Trade products you are sending a message to the multinational companies and governments that the welfare of the producers is important to you. Your choice can make the difference between them barely surviving and living with hope for the future. In recent years major supermarkets have produced their own brand products that have received the Fair Trade mark in response to the growing consumer demand.

Fair Trade Labelling

The first Fair Trade label was produced in 1986 by Max Havelaar in the Netherlands. It was used on Fair Trade coffee sourced from Mexico. Today there are nineteen organisations which make up the Fair Trade Labelling Organisations International (FLO). This organisation is the international standard setting and monitoring body for Fair Trade products. The UK member of the FLO is the Fairtrade Foundation, created in 1997 by Cafod, Oxfam, Traidcraft, Christian Aid, New Consumer and the World Developoment Movement. The Fairtrade Foundation licenses the UK fairtrade mark: This is the UK’s only independent consumer guarantee that products carrying the Mark meet the internationally agreed Fair Trade standards. However, this mark is usually only found on food products.  For other products such as jewellery, ornaments, gifts etc. consumers can look for the fact that the product has been imported by a member of a Fair Trade organisation.

 

British Association for Fair Trade Shops

In the UK the British Association for Fair Trade Shops (BAFTS) exists to promote fair trade retailing in

 the UK, seek to raise the profile of fair trade on the High Street and provide a point of contact and communication for the exchange of ideas amongst its members. All approved members of BAFTS display the symbol below in their shops or publications.BAFTS is a member of the International Federation for Alternative Trade (IFAT), which has nearly 300 members in over 60 countries throughout the world. Many different organisations belong to IFAT including retailers, importers, exporters, Fair Trade networks and co-operatives.The FTO Mark identifies registered Fair Trade Organizations worldwide. Over 150 organisations have already registered.

As a fair trade consumer you can buy in confidence when you see the Fairtrade Mark, the BAFTS symbol or the FTO mark. Openness to customers is an important part of any Fair Trade retailer’s policy so ask if you are not sure where the product comes from.


Web Links:

For further information about Fair Trade organisations and other fair trade companies please visit the links below:
 

www.fairtrade.org.uk - The website of The Fairtrade Foundation
www.bafts.org.uk - Information about the British Association for Fair Trade Shops
www.ifat.org - Website of The International Federation for Alternative Trade
www.oxfam.org.uk  - Website for Oxfam

Other Fair Trade Companies:

www.peopletree.co.uk - Fair Trade clothing company

www.pachacuti.co.uk - Fair Trade clothing company

 www.nomadsclothing.co.uk - Fair Trade clothing company

Other websites of interest:

www.ecostreet.com