More information on Fair Trade

FAIR TRADE

Bio Partenaire stands up for a UNIVERSAL approach of fair trade and believes that maintaining growers within their trade is a global challenge. The agricultural world is being messed around with from all directions: decrease in productivity, speculation on raw materials, market pressures, ...

We want migrations from countries with high GNP's, in which agricultural abandonment is very strong, to be recognised as a major economical, environmental and social challenge.

We consider this migration as a global issue of which no country may consider itself protected from. The result is a loss of demographic balance with an exodus of populations towards cities, people abandoning both their soil and their cultural roots.

To respond to the phenomenon, member companies of Bio Partenaire commit themselves, in France and abroad, as a driving force behind development.

The association created two resources which are adapted to the concerned production territories. The term "Fair" was used to describe fair trading between producer and processor in the northern hemisphere. We decided that it was important to separate our resources and labels, as the phrase "fair trade" is all too often used to describe the relationship with producers of developing countries.

DEFINITION OF FAIR TRADE (Source : FINE1).

"Fair Trade is a commercial, technical and social partnership based on transparency, respect and dialogue. It acts in developing countries for the benefits of under privileged producers, workers and their families. Fair trade has an objective of equity in all commercial relations and is part of the sustainable development process. Stakeholders of fair trade, supported by consumers, commit themselves to actively support producers, to increase public awareness and to engage in improvements within the rules and good practices of conventional international trade".

1FINE is the acronym for FLO, IFAT, NEWS et EFTA.

CURRENT SYSTEMS OF GUARANTEE

The Fair Trade Platform conducted a comparative survey on the various systems of guarantee currently available in fair trade: (1) the guarantee on the product, (2) the guarantee on organisation and (3) the guarantee on a given channel.

BIO PARTENAIRE AS PART OF FAIR TRADE NETWORKS