The Fair Trade movement is one of many initiatives undertaken by many people around the world which attempts to recognize and alleviate the unfair conditions of trade which have been imposed by northern companies on smaller trading partners, resulting in the situation wherein the actual producers of a product wind up with a tiny fraction of its selling price, and middlemen of various sorts take most of the profits. It is primarily directed to help southern handicraft producers, but is also used in food trade in both developed and underdeveloped countries. Although SAAN has yet to become directly involved with a Fair Trade network, we are looking at ways our members can benefit from this, and support the movement. On this page, we provide some links to the major Fair Trade (also referred to as Alternative Trade, related to Ethical Trade) players in the world.

International Federation of Alternative Trade

The International Federation for Alternative Trade (IFAT) is perhaps the majro Fair Trade organisation currently operating. It is a federation of producers and "alternative" trading organizations (ATOs). In IFAT, producers of handicrafts and food products from the developing countries come together directly with buyers and managers of ATOs as friends and partners in a spirit of mutual trust. They cast aside the traditional trading system of middlemen and create an "alternative" way of doing business that is beneficial and fair. IFAT's objectives are two-fold:

• To improve the living conditions of the poor and oppressed in developing countries; and
• To change unfair structures of international trade.

Improving the producer's quality of life is the main objective of Fair Trade Online. Producers receive a fair price for their goods and advances on orders. ATOs work with producers to provide quality products. Purchase and marketing of producers' goods are conducted according to high ethical standards. Continuity of orders is important. Sources, production and workplaces do not exploit people or the environment. Products have meaning above their tangible attributes. Consumers are informed about the people who make the products they purchase, increasing their loyalty and understanding that their purchasing power makes a difference. Cultural exchanges between people in the South and people in the North are encouraged.

One World Supersite Fair Trade Page

Fair trade organisations do business directly with producers in the developing world, cutting out the middlemen and thus ensuring that the maximum profit is returned to source. Fair trade also guarantees stability for producers, protecting them against flux in the market through secure, long-term prices and premiums over and above the market rate. Many schemes also offer prepayment or access to credit.
In much the same way as products carry environmental labels, some have taken on ‘ethical’ labels too: the Rugmark, first launched in Germany, ensures that a carpet has been produced without the use of child labour. Independently monitored codes of conduct ensure that companies are not profiting from denying workers’ rights overseas; six out of ten major British supermarkets have already agreed to such codes.

Christian Aid’s Change the Rules Campaign
The average fruit farm worker in South Africa or pineapple worker in the Dominican Republic would take over 15 centuries to earn the annual salary of Sir Ian MacLaurin, Tesco's Chief Executive
- this statistic is featured in the summary report of this Christian Aid's Change the Rules Campaign. When was the last time you read a label - and then did not buy something? Eh?

Community Aid Abroad Trading

Community Aid Abroad Trading is a wholly owned company of Community Aid Abroad, one of Australia's oldest and most respected aid organisations. Community Aid Abroad's vision is for a world in which people control their own lives, their basic rights are achieved and the environment is sustained.

Community Aid Abroad Trading's prime function is to work with and purchase from skilled craftspeople in poor developing countries and sell their products to our customers in Australia. These products are available through our network of retail shops (One World Shops) in all states, through our extensive mail order catalogues (Mail Order) and by wholesaling to groups and gift shops around Australia. We also operate a travel agency (One World Travel).

Fairtrade Oxfam

The primary aim of the Fair Trade campaign is to create awareness of the injustices in world trade. The campaign strives to influence consumers, traders, and governments to alter trade conditions to benefit poor producers.

Oxfam-Canada Bridgehead

Welcome to Oxfam-Canada Bridgehead. We promote ethical trade with farmers and artisans in the Developing World through our direct mail catalogue, retail stores and wholesale departments.

We sell high quality food products and handcrafts to consumers to promote a more sustainable global trading system. Hopefully this will shed light on what makes our work so special ... and why we'd like you to be part of it.

Ten Thousand Villages

Ten Thousand Villages (formerly SELFHELP Crafts) is a nonprofit alternative trading organization that provides vital, fair income to Third World people by selling their handicrafts and telling their stories in North America. Ten Thousand Villages works with artisans who would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed. This effort helps improve the economic situations of an estimated 50,000 artisans by providing income that can pay for nutritious food, education, health care and housing. Thousands of volunteers in Canada and the United States work with Ten Thousand Villages in their home communities. Ten Thousand Villages is a program of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), the service, relief and development agency of Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches in North America. Ten Thousand Villages has been working around the world since 1946.

On September 20th, 1996, Ten Thousand Villages was born from the 50 years of work that MCC had carried out under the name SELFHELP Crafts of the World. Why Ten Thousand Villages? Ten Thousand Villages Director Paul Myers says it best. "We want to give a clear and consistent message about who we are, what we do, why we do it, who we do it with, and how people can become involved." For many artisans in Third World countries, the village is where one's heart is -- an important symbol of family, tradition, and culture. In a mass production-world, villages are still a setting for the individualized creations of authentic handicrafts. By selling these handicrafts and telling artisan stories in North America, Ten Thousand Villages helps these communities survive.

SERRV International - Handicrafts from the Developing World
SERRV International is a non-profit program which promotes the social and economic progress of people in developing regions of the world by purchasing and marketing their crafts in a just and direct manner. We have been creating a marketplace based on fairness for almost fifty years. We are known for our outstanding customer service and quality.
(SERRV Thailand describes Lao Song Handicrafts, McKean Rehabilitation Center, Thai Tribal Crafts, and Y Development Corporation, SEERV projects in Northern Thailand)

Traidcraft is another British Fair Trade group, with many useful ideas and links.