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Fair
Trade
What Is Fair Trade?
How to Identify Fair Trade Goods
Get Involved
in the Fair Trade movement!
More Information on Fair Trade
What Is Fair
Trade?
Fair Trade is an alternative approach
to conventional international trade which promotes social
equity, economic security, and sound environmental practices.
Its goal is to contribute to sustainable development
by improving market access for disadvantaged producers.
It works to a set of values and objectives that seek
to improve living standards and achive a fairer distribution
of income and influence. It is a parntership between
all of the people involved in the trading process-producers,
workers, traders, and consumers.
Fair Trade
Criteria include:
- Paying a fair wage in the
local context
- Offering employees opportunities
for advancement
- Providing equal employment
opportunities for all people
- Engaging in environmentally
sustainable practices
- Being open to public accountability
- Building long-term trade
relationships
- Providing healthy and safe
working conditions within the local context
- Providing financial and technical
assistance to producers whenever possible
- Ensuring that there is no
abuse of child labor
Some of the benefits of Fair
Trade are:
- Values
and preserves traditonal cultures
- Generates fair income for
thousands of artisans around the world
- Educates consumers about
trade and cultures
- Promotes people-to-people
ties among artisans, traders, and consumers
- Gender equity: 70% of craft
artisans are women
- Provides resources for education,
health care, and community development
- Promotes environmental stewardship
- Supplements income in between
harvest cycles, when rural communities most need income
- Promotes democratic participation
in cooperative group structures
- Ensures that artistic technologies
in indigenous cultures are passed on to the next generations
Fair Trade is growing, with global
fair trade product sales estimated to amount to $US
300-500 million in retail sales per year.
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How to Identify
Fair Trade Goods
The easiest way to recognize fairly
traded goods is to look for a label which is recognized
by the Fairtrade
Labelling Organization (FLO), an international umbrella
organization which coordinates national fair trade initiatives.
FLO collects data and ensures the audit of all Fairtrade
labelled products from the producer to the supermarket
shelf.
In Canada, the most recognizable fair
trade label, especially for coffee is Transfair:
Look for these labels from around
the world which are also recognized by the FLO:
Other labels which indicate ethical
consumer choices are:
 |
Rugmark
indicates rugs which were made free of exploitive
child labour. |
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The
Forest Stewardship Council identifies wood which
is managed according to internationally, agreed
social and environmental principles and criteria. |
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Get
Involved in the Fair Trade movement!
At coffee shops and in restaurants,
always drink fair trade coffee.
When you order coffee, always ask
for Fair Trade. An increasing number of stores now offer
at least one fair trade option.
Fill out customer comment cards and
ask the manager to carry at least one fair trade line.
Encourage your community organization
or workplace to purchase Fair Trade products for fundraisers,
employee rewards, and organizational gifts. Serve Fair
Trade coffee at coffee hour or other events.
Share Fair Trade products with
your friends and neighbors. Let them know about the
difference that their purchasing choices make in the
lives of crafts producers and farming communities in
the Third World.
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More
information on Fair Trade
Transfair: www.transfair.ca
Fairtrade Labelling Organization:
www.fairtrade.net
Global Exchange: www.globalexchange.org
Fair Trade Federation: www.fairtradefederation.com
Ten Thousand Villages: www.villages.ca
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