ftrn.org is an information hub designed to grow the fair trade movement. together, we can create a market that values the people who make the food we eat and the goods we use.
Article reprinted from Fair World Project October 7 e-newsletter:
The Obama Administration and Congress are closing in on three “free trade” agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. These NAFTA-styled agreements expand the failed trade policies and false promises of NAFTA to the rest of the world. (more…)
Fair Trade: A Human Journey, by Eric St-Pierre, is now available through FTRN at retail and wholesale rates. Details: 2010 ~ 240 pg. book (10 x 13 inches, 4 lbs. hardcover) ~ high school level & above ~ $49.95. See review below. (more…)
With the major news that Fair Trade USA (FTUSA) is leaving Fairtrade International (FLO), Fair Trade Resource Network (FTRN) announces a 3-webinar series in October/November for the public to discuss implications and ask questions of FTUSA and FLO.
Webinar #117 – FTUSA panelist only, Paul Rice, CEO of FTUSA (set for October 12)
Webinar #118 – FLO panelist only (date tbd)
Webinar #119 – FTUSA & FLO panelists together (date tbd)
The public can now register to attend the first webinar with FTUSA, detailed below. (more…)
The 3 major producer networks (representing 800 producers groups comprised of around 1 million producers in 60 countries) in Fair Trade certification, issued statements this week strongly opposing Fair Trade USA’s decision to withdraw from Fairtrade International (FLO), and to FTUSA doing so without consulting the 3 networks, all co-owners of FLO. (more…)
Washington, DC – On the tenth anniversary of the Harkin-Engel Protocol, Global Exchange, Green America, and International Labor Rights Forum issued the following statement:
“Today marks the 10-year anniversary of the Harkin-Engel Protocol, an agreement signed by the country’s largest chocolate companies to put an end to forced child labor in their cocoa supply chains by July of 2005. Chocolate companies committed to this voluntary agreement in lieu of legislation that would have required all chocolate companies to adopt a ‘slave-free’ labeling system.
However, six years after the industry’s initial deadline, and ten years since chocolate manufacturers committed to taking action on this issue, hundreds of thousands of children are still subject to the worst forms of child labor on West African cocoa farms. (more…)
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