FTIS 2008 (Fair Trade International Symposium)

ROUND TABLE May 15th 2008 : From fair trade to fairness in trade : appraisal and perspectives

Timetable and Place: Thursday, May 15th, 2008 – 11.30 to 13 30 - Conference Room with simultaneous translation

Animation: Damien Conaré, chief editor of Le Courrier de la Planète

See the video

Objectives and interventions

One of the main purposes that the actors of the fair trade movement gave themselves historically was to change the practices of international trade. The aim was to provide better terms of exchanges for producers in developing countries through by covering their production costs in a sustainable way.

Thus, their first strategy was to try to pressure international multi-lateral institutions through campaigns of advocacy. Today, the movement is broadly acknowledged, including by consumers; markets for fair traded products are growing and so is the number of actors involved. Do those elements give more political weight to the initial claims ? Are fair trade actors able to influence international trade negotiations?

The other strategy was to alter the balance of power between trade actors through capacity building of producers' organisations and their power of negotiation. And then to surf on the sustainable development wave to involve conventional actors in the fair-trade movement and to re-challenge their trade practices. Are producers' organisations better armed today to negotiate on international markets? Have commercial practices of conventional firms changes through their involvement with historical Fair-Trade activists?

Finally, if one considers that contractual systems of regulation at European and possibly international level could bring about changes regarding the terms of exchange, then Fair Trade can appear as an alternative: it is indeed a relationship between partners that includs price regulations. It then becomes necessary not only to develop Fair Trade but also to bring other spheres of sustainable development to reflect on the importance of commitment on prices. What lessons can be learnt from experiences in Fair trade initiatives?

This round table will be developfour different view points and will discuss the conditions which will allow Fair Trade claims to influence international debates around world trade : how can the growth of fair trade have a real impact, be it at the level of international regulation bodies or at the level of trade actors themselves?

Fair trade international networks

• Christophe Alliot – FLO
• IFAT or FINE

International trade regulation actors

• Pascal Liu – economist, FAO
• Oxfam France Agir Ici or Focus on the Global South

Producers

• Santiago Enriquie Paz Lopez, representative Norandino Peru

Consumers

• Consumer International

ROUND TABLE May 16th 2008 : What is the role of actors from the South in the fairtrade project ?

Timetable and Place: Friday, May 16th, 2008 – 11.30 to 13.30 – Conference Room with simultaneous interpretation

Animation : David Eloy, journaliste of Altermondes

See the video

Objectives and interventions

Despite the unprecedented development of the fairtrade movement, both from a quantitative and a qualitative point of view, the involvement of the actors from the South still remains very limited.

The ability of producers’ organizations to play a role in the definition of the criteria and terms of reference of fairtrade’s systems of guaranty is not yet proportional to their importance in the chain. Similarly, their involvement in the definition and implementation of lobbying and advocacy campaigns is still limited.

On the other hand, international and continental networks in the South have strengthened in the last years. Their role is to improve the representation of fairtrade producers and fairtrade organizations in their countries and increase their networks’ efficiency In order to be able to pressure governments and lead them to better take into account their claims and their needs. As it is the case in the North, they are closely linked to social and solidarity economy networks in their own countries. Thus, “South/South” fairtrade relations find all their legitimacy. These networks are more or less involved in international fair trade movements. Most of them expect the development of national and international regulation systems for fairtrade.

During this round table, producers’ and networks’ representatives will present the role they are currently playing in the international fairtrade movement and develop their views concerningthe perspectives of evolution of fairtrade.

Fairtrade producers

• Ciprian Mayorga Veliz - ANAPQUI, Bolivia
• Sisaliao Svengsuksa - Lao Farmers Products Batieng Products, Laos
• GIE Femmes du Rif, Morocco

Fairtrade networks

• Abdourhamane Gueye - ENDA Senegal
• Geraldine Labradores - IFAT Asia
• Fabiola Zerbini - FACES Brasil