During a second international conference for alternative trade organisations and their partners, organised in 1989 in the Dutch town Noordwijk aan Zee, the International Federation for Alternative Trade (IFAT) was founded. This second international conference was organised on the initiative of the Dutch NGO Stichting Ideële Import. Every organisation involved with alternative trade could become a member of the federation. Soon the IFAT network had hundreds of member organisations in more than 70 countries, including producer cooperatives and associations, export marketing companies, importers, retailers, national and regional fair-trade networks, financial institutions and fair-trade support organisations.
The input and influence of producer organisations from the Global South was initially limited. However, the founders of the federation acknowledged that the producers needed to become more visible and influential in the network. Producer organisations from Asia, Africa and Latin America sent representatives to the third conference, in 1991. These representatives used this conference that was organised in Ireland, to express the need for more equal participation of producer organisations. This intervention had success: in the following years, 3 out of 6 IFAT board members were from producer circles. After critiquing their unequal position at the next conference as well, the organisation eventually grew into a platform where the voices of the producers were truly heard. The influence of producers also grew when they established regional organisations.
New technological developments such as the option to vote electronically also helped make IFAT an organisation where producer groups worldwide were heard. When the federation changed its name into the World Fair Trade Organization in 2008, it already had 400 member organisations.
The WFTO is based in the Dutch town of Culemborg and defines fair-trade as follows:
"Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to and securing the rights of, marginalised producers and workers – especially in the South.
Fair Trade Organisations have a clear commitment to Fair Trade as the principal core of their mission. They, backed by consumers, are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade." (https://wfto.com/)
The WFTO considers this as a globally recognised definition, as agreed by the main international Fair-Trade networks (WFTO, Fairtrade International and the European Fair- Trade Association, EFTA)
Fair-Trade Organisations (also known as Fair-Trade Enterprises) can obtain the WFTO Mark.
The WFTO considers Fair-Trade as more than just trading:
- FT is a vision of business and trade that put people and planet before profit
- FT fights poverty, climate change, gender inequality and injustice
- FT is a proof of concept that showcases the enterprise models of the new economy
Sources:
https://faircompanies.com/articles/international-federation-for-alternative-trade-ifat/
https://wfto.com/our-fair-trade-system#10-principles-of-fair-trade
NICC Archive:
Peter van Dam, Wereldverbeteraars. Een geschiedenis van Fair Trade (Amsterdam, 2018).
