Fair Trade seeks to promote sustainable development by ensuring that economically disadvantaged producers and workers in the Third World get a fair share of the global market price.

The concept of fair trade originated in the late 1940s with churches in North America and Europe. Congregations sought to provide relief to refugees and other poverty stricken communities by selling their crafts to Northern markets.

The sale of Fair Trade coffee began two decades ago, in the Netherlands. In 1980 a Dutch priest named Franz Van der Hoff went to Mexico to live and work with coffee farmers, who despite working very hard were desperately poor. Van der Hoff organized the farmers and they decided that what they needed most was a fair price for their coffee – one that covered production costs and still left them enough money to support their families. Father Van der Hoff took the farmers’ concerns back to Holland, where a group of activists formed the Max Havelaar Foundation to promote the concept of Fair Trade.

FLO (Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International), the international organization for Fair Trade labeling, was formed in 1997, bringing the Max Havelaar Foundation, the European equivalent of the US third-party Fair Trade certifier TransFair, and other fair trade groups together under one umbrella to set standards for Fair Trade certification.

Today, while coffee leads the Fair Trade market, there are many other Fair Trade products, including tea, bananas, rice and sugar.

EUROPEAN FAIR TRADE ORGANIZATION (EFTA)
Importing Fair Trade products from some 400 economically disadvantaged producer groups in Africa, Asia and Latin America, the European Fair Trade Association (EFTA) is the largest network of importing organizations in Europe. Visit this site for information about Fair Trade, its key players, country specific information, and product reports and analysis.
http://www.eftafairtrade.org/

INTERNATIONAL FAIR TRADE ASSOCIATION (IFAT)
The International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) is an international network of 270 Fair Trade organizations in 60 countries. IFAT promotes Fair Trade, develops markets for fair trade products and monitors its member organizations for adherence to the Fair Trade standards. Visit this site to learn about the mission of Fair Trade, its key principles and history.
http://www.ifat.org/

NETWORK OF EUROPEAN WORLDSHOPS (NEWS)
NEWS is an umbrella network of over 2500 Worldshops in Europe. Worldshop stores sell fairly traded products and campaign for a more equal and accessible global trade system. Learn about the main principles of Fair Trade, the role and relationship between producers, importers, labeling organizations and retailers. Also see the facts and figures about Fair Trade's market share, the trends, best sellers and consumer support.
http://www.worldshops.org/index.html