The fairtrade organization is an independent non-profit organization. Fair trade is all about putting people first. It is against poverty and helps the people to get a fair wage. Fairtrade offers producers a fair deal and improved terms of trade.
History
The concept of fair trade began in the 1940's with some shops and church groups in the US and Europe.
EFTA (The European Fair Trade Association)
IFAT (The International Association for Fair Trade) - a global network of hundreds of organisations
Who is behind Fairtrade
Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) - is responsible for the strategic direction of Fairtrade
FLO-CERT - independent certification company
Fairtrade Labelling Initiatives
Fairtrade Producer Networks - associations that Fairtrade certified producer groups may join
Fairtrade Marketing Organizations - organizations that market and promote Fairtrade in their country
The Fairtrade mark
the producers and traders have met Fairtrade standards
Fairtrade standards
They relate to three areas of sustainable development: social development, economic development and the environmental development.
Fairtrade minimum price
This is the price that a buyer of Fairtrade products has to pay to the Producer Organization. It is not a fixed price and when the market price is higher than the Fairtrade minimum, the buyer must pay the market price.
Products
There are a lot of Fairtrade products in many major supermarkets and independent shops like Nah und Frisch, Billa, BIPA, DM Drogeriemarkt.
Fairtrade, climate and environnement
The Fairtrade system includes environmental standards as a part of producer certification. The standard requires producers to work to protect the natural environnement.
How big is Fairtrade?
Today about 7.5 million people benefit from Fairtrade
