News and press releases

Organisations call for a EU food policy and a Vice President for Food

The FTAO has joined other campaign groups, farming organisations, and think tanks to call on the next European Commission President to put an EU food policy in place.

The organisations involved represent the sectors of farming, fisheries, environment, animal welfare, health, consumers, development, social justice, climate, and forestry. In an open letter to the lead candidates for the presidency, we called for an EU food policy to be put in place, and a European Commission Vice-President to be made responsible for ensuring the transition to sustainable food systems.

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Fair Trade & the EU with Linda McAvan MEP

Our Communications Assistant, Ffion Storer Jones sat down with Linda McAvan MEP ahead of World Fair Trade Day to talk about her work supporting Fair Trade over her 20 years as an MEP and how she encourages us all to take action in support of Fair Trade. read more

Call for proposals for Impact Research and Legal Advice on Human Rights Due Diligence Frameworks

Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) frameworks are effective tools in promoting fairer and more sustainable supply chains . They also have the potential to steer companies to address human rights and environmental issues in a way that serves long term socio-economic development and contribute to the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, it is important to ensure that the implementation of HRDD frameworks lead to real change in companies’ trading practices and have a positive impact on small farmers and workers. read more

Call for papers for an academic conference on EU Competition Law & Sustainability

A one-day academic conference on EU Competition Law & Sustainability will take place at Science Po in Paris on the 26th of June 2019.

In the context of a global system of production that is increasingly interconnected and exponentially exercising pressure on the planet and people’s lives, this conference is inspired by the desire to imagine a system of competition law (or beyond competition law) that is fully embedded in the double limit of the planetary boundaries and of social considerations, inspired by Kate Raworth’s ‘Doughnut Economics’ and elaborated by Tomaso Ferrando & Claudio Lombardi in ‘EU Competition Law and Sustainability in Food Systems: Addressing the Broken Links’.

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New report released on how to Scale Up Fair Trade in Europe

The Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO) yesterday launched its latest publication ‘From local to EU level: Scaling Up Fair Trade in Europe’ at the European Parliament. The report aims to showcase and promote Fair Trade initiatives led by Local Authorities and develop EU policy recommendations on how the next European Commission could further support such initiatives.

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FTAO celebrates 15th Birthday

Friends of the FTAO gathered at OzFair on 10th January to welcome in the new year and mark the FTAO’s 15th birthday.

The new year drink is an annual opportunity for Fair Trade supporters to gather and celebrate achievements, and this year was extra special, as the FTAO marked 15 years of advocating for fairer terms of trade since it was set up in 2006.

The FTAO would like to thank everyone who joined the celebration.

Calls for applications for sub-grants

In the framework of the EU DEAR Project “Trade Fair, Live Fair: Raising Awareness and Mobilizing the European Public to Advance Consumption patterns that Nurture the Sustainable Development Goals” (TFLF), sub-grant facilities have been put in place to enable organisations and local authorities that are not formally part of the project, to participate.

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No Climate Justice without Trade Justice

Small-scale farmers must be supported in the fight against climate change.

The International Fair Trade Movement today called on the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to introduce transparent, fair and binding mechanisms for trade justice in order to achieve climate justice in their negotiations at COP24.

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Fair Trade movement and UNCTAD join forces at IFTTC Madrid!

The Brussels-based Fair Trade Advocacy Office and UNCTAD are joining forces to improve the living and working conditions of artisans, workers and smallholder farmers and producers in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The two organizations, which have both been calling for a more equitable trading system for decades, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 19 October in Madrid.

International Fair Trade Charter Defines Vision for a Fairer World

Many people use the term “fair trade”, but what does it actually mean? Today, more than 250 organizations around the world are uniting to launch an International Fair Trade Charter that sets down the fundamental values of Fair Trade and defines a common vision towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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