On 6 July 2006, the European Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution on fair trade, recognising the benefits of the fair trade movement, proposing the development of an EU-wide fair trade policy, defining the criteria to be met in the context of fair trade to protect it from abuse and calling for greater support for fair trade (EP resolution on fair trade and development, 6 July 2006). “This resolution responds to the impressive growth of fair trade and shows the growing interest of European consumers in responsible purchasing,” Green MEP Frithjof Schmidt said during the plenary debate. Peter Mandelson, european Commissioner for Foreign Trade, replied that the resolution would go well with the European Commission. “Fair trade makes consumers think and is therefore even more valuable. We need to develop a coherent political framework, and this resolution will help us. [145] In the following years, fair trade agricultural products played an important role in the growth of many ABOs: successfully in the market, they offered producers a much-needed renewable source of income and offered alternative trade organizations a complement to the handicraft market. The first fair trade agricultural products were tea and coffee, quickly followed by: dried fruits, cocoa, sugar, fruit juices, rice, spices and nuts. While in 1992 a sales value ratio of 80% of handicrafts to 20% of agricultural products was the norm, in 2002 crafts accounted for 25% of fair trade turnover, while food lines increased by 69%. [64] The Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand (FTAANZ) is a member-based organisation that supports two fair trade systems.

The first is the Australian and New Zealand member of FLO International, which brings together Fairtrade producer and labelling initiatives in Europe, Asia, Latin America, North America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The second is the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) with more than 450 members worldwide, to which FTAANZ belongs. Fairtrade (a word) refers to FLO certified products and related products. Fair trade (two words) encompasses the broader movement of fair trade, including Fairtrade products and other handicrafts. There are several recognized fair trade certifiers, including Fairtrade International (formerly FLO, Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International), IMO, Make Trade Fair and Eco-Social. In addition, Fair Trade USA, formerly a licensing agency for the Fairtrade International label, broke with the system and implemented its own fair trade labeling system, which extended the scope of fair trade to small independent farmers and estates for all crops. In 2008, Fairtrade International certified products worth around €3.4 billion. [6] [7] There is widespread confusion because Fairtrade International`s (The Fairtrade Labelling Organization) fair trade industry standards use the word “producer” in many different senses, often in the same specification document. Sometimes these are farmers, sometimes the primary cooperatives to which they belong, secondary cooperatives to which the primary cooperatives belong, or tertiary cooperatives to which the secondary cooperatives may belong,[69] but “producer [also] means any entity certified according to the Fairtrade International Generic Fairtrade Standard for Small Producing Organizations, Generic Fairtrade Standard for Small Producing Organizations, Generic Fairtrade Standard for Contract Work Situations or Generic Fairtrade Standard for Contract Production.

[70] The word is used in all of these meanings in key documents. [71] [72] [73] [74] [75] [76] In practice, when it comes to prices and credit, `producer` means the implementing organisation: `In the case of small producer organisations, payment must be made directly to the certified small producer organisation`. [77] and “In the case of a small producer organisation [e.g. for coffee], Fairtrade minimum prices are set at the level of the producer organisation, and not at the level of individual producers (members of the organisation)”, which means that the `producer` is here halfway through the marketing chain between the farmer and the consumer. [77] The part of the standards that refers to cultivation, the environment, pesticides and child labour makes the farmer a “producer”. Anecdotes say that farmers were paid more or less by traders than by fair trade cooperatives. Few of these anecdotes address the problems of price reporting in developing country markets,[162] and few appreciate the complexity of different price sets that may or may not include credit, harvesting, transportation, processing, etc. Co-ops typically charge average prices throughout the year, so they pay less than traders at certain times and more at others. Bassett (2009)[163] is only able to compare prices when Fairtrade and non-Fairtrade farmers have to sell cotton to the same monopsonist ginning farms that pay low prices. Prices should be higher to compensate farmers for the increased costs they incur to produce fair trade. For example, fair trade has encouraged Nicaraguan farmers to switch to organic coffee, which has led to higher prices per pound, but lower net income due to higher costs and lower yields. [18] [23] [164] There was widespread political criticism of fair trade from left and right.

Some believe that the fair trade system is not radical enough. French author Christian Jacquiau, in his book Behind the Scenes of Fair Trade, calls for stricter fair trade standards and criticizes the fair trade movement for its work in the current system (i.e. partnerships with large retailers, multinationals, etc.), instead of establishing a new, fairer and fully autonomous trading system (i.e. a state monopoly). Jacquiau also supports significantly higher fair trade prices to maximize the effect, as most producers only sell a portion of their harvest under fair trade conditions. [34] [Citation needed] It has been argued that the fair trade system approach is too rooted in a consumerist vision of justice in the North in which producers in the South do not participate. “A key issue, therefore, is to make explicit who has the power to define Fairtrade terms, that is, who has the power to determine the need for ethics in the first place and then command a certain ethical vision as truth.” [182] Brilliant Earth is committed to using Fair Trade certified gold. [138] In February 2011, the British Fairtrade Foundation became the first NGO to start certifying gold under the heading of fair trade. [139] In 2006, Italian lawmakers began debating how to introduce a fair trade law in parliament. A consultation process involving a wide range of stakeholders was launched in early October. [146] Above all, a common definition of fair trade has been developed. However, its adoption is still pending, as efforts have stalled due to the political crisis in Italy in 2008.

Sections of the trade justice movement have also criticized fair trade in recent years for allegedly focusing too much on small groups of individual producers while not advocating for immediate changes in trade policy that would have a greater impact on the lives of disadvantaged producers. French author and correspondent of RFI, Jean-Pierre Boris, expressed this view in his book Unfair Trade of 2005. [181] One suggestion why workers in Africa are marginalized in global trade is that the colonial division of labor has prevented Africa from developing its own industries. Africa and other developing countries have received low prices for their exported raw materials such as cocoa, which has led to poverty. Fair trade aims to establish a system of direct trade with developing countries to counter this unfair system. [107] Most cocoa comes from small family farms in West Africa. .