The Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand (The Fair Trade Association) is a member-based organization that supports two systems of fair trade. The first is the Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

member of FLO International, which unites

Fairtrade A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement fair trade. The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Africa, As ...

producer and labeling initiatives across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

, North America,

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, Australia and

. The second, is the

World Fair Trade Organization The World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), is a global association of 401 organizations who are committed to improving the livelihoods of economically marginalised producers. WFTO has members in 76 countries. Members are primarily fair trade enterpr ...

(WFTO), of over 450 worldwide members, to which the Fair Trade Association is one. Fairtrade (one word) refers to FLO certified commodity and associated products. Fair trade (two words) encompasses the wider Fair Trade movement, including the Fairtrade commodities and other artisan craft products.

Organisation structure

The Fair Trade Association is a not-for-private-profit membership based association, governed by an Executive Committee elected every year during The Fair Trade Association's AGM. The Fair Trade Association membership is open to any organisation interested and supportive of fair trade principles. The Fair Trade Association membership includes development, social justice, environmental and human rights NGOs, businesses, alternative trade organisations, researchers and interested individuals.

Marketing support programs and activities

Through its member base, and a small secretariat, the Fair Trade Association seeks to increase awareness of fair trade; help facilitate and coordinate fair trade activities; assist producers from

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, to access Australian and

markets; and establish a regional organisation to manage Fairtrade certification and labelling for products that have standards in place under the limited FLO system. The Fair Trade Association also endorses fair trade businesses who are primarily artisan craft-based and do not fall within the purview of the Fairtrade Labeling Organization structures. This endorsement is gained through adherence to the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) 10 principles of fair trade. This endorsement offers opportunities for consumers to trust that the craft-styled products sold by businesses are authentically fair trade. Businesses become endorsed as a "Fair Trader of Australia". The program has been quite successful in the country. Between 2012 and 2017, the sale of fair trade products in Australia grew by 70%. Most consumers are socially aware these days and check the labels before making a purchase. This money has made a considerable impact in the lives of children located in developing countries.

History

The first products bearing the FLO

International Fairtrade Certification Mark The International Fairtrade Certification Mark is an independent certification mark used in over 50 countries. It appears on products as an independent guarantee that a product has been produced according to Fairtrade political standards. The ...

, which guarantees a better deal to disadvantaged producers in the developing world, were sold in Australia and New Zealand starting October 2003. Products bearing the

mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...

are on sale in Australia and New Zealand:

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

and cocoa, cotton and sportsballs. The first endorsed "Fair Traders of Australia" achieved their seal in early 2011.

References

External links

The Fair Trade Association Australia websiteThe Fair Trade Association New Zealand website
{{Fair trade Fair trade organizations Organizations established in 2003 2003 establishments in Australia

Organisation structure

Marketing support programs and activities

History

See also

References

External links