# Fairtrade Town > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fairtrade_Town > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fairtrade_Town.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairtrade_Town > Source revision: 1344465753 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) This article needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Fairtrade Town" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) British grassroots citizen movement Sign announcing the Belgian city of [Leuven](/source/Leuven)'s Fair Trade Town status The **Fair Trade Towns** campaign is the result of a grass-roots citizens movement that started in the UK in 2001 (see below). It allows citizens to get together in order to self-proclaim their town (or other local geographical area) as a region that complies with a few general Fair Trade criteria, that can be adapted from country to country but which retain their main elements. In some countries, the **Fair Trade Town** became a status awarded by a recognized Fair Trade certification body (i.e. the [Fairtrade Foundation](/source/Fairtrade_Foundation) in the [United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom), [TransFair Canada](/source/TransFair_Canada) in [Canada](/source/Canada) etc.) describing an area which is committed to the promotion of [Fair Trade certified](/source/Fair_Trade_certification) goods. By extension, the organizations also award the statuses of **Fair Trade City**, **Fair Trade Village**, **Fair Trade Zone**, **Fair Trade Borough**, **Fair Trade Island**, **Fair Trade Country,** and **Fair Trade University**. ## History The Fair Trade Town campaign was first launched in 2001 in [Garstang](/source/Garstang), [Lancashire](/source/Lancashire), under the initiative of Bruce Crowther, a local [Oxfam](/source/Oxfam) supporter, and the Garstang Oxfam Group. The initiative, which aimed to promote Fair Trade certified goods in the town, was highly successful: within a couple of months, awareness of the [Fairtrade Mark](/source/International_Fairtrade_Certification_Mark) jumped to over 70% in the town while sales of Fairtrade certified goods increased significantly. Moreover, over the course of the campaign, Garstang developed links with Fair Trade cocoa farming communities in West Africa, which led to the [twin town](/source/Sister_city) relationship with [New Koforidua](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Koforidua&action=edit&redlink=1), [Ghana](/source/Ghana).[1] As the activities at Garstang gained wider attention, the [Fairtrade Foundation](/source/Fairtrade_Foundation) launched a set of Fair Trade Town Goals and an Action Guide to encourage others to follow in the town's success. During the 2001-2006 period, over 209 British towns were awarded the Fair Trade status by the Fairtrade Foundation. In October 2009 448 British towns and 312 towns worldwide (in total 760) were awarded the Fair Trade status. In November 2012, there were over 1200 worldwide. In an attempt to replicate the success of the Fairtrade Foundation's Fairtrade Town program, a Europe-wide program called "Fair Trade Towns in Europe", part-funded by the [European Commission](/source/European_Commission), was launched jointly by several Fair Trade labelling initiatives. In November 2006, the first ever European Fair Trade Towns conference was hosted at London Southbank University. The goals of the conference were to - identify and develop procedures to strengthen the links within and between local communities and private and public organisations; - develop strategies to enable the UK Fair Trade Towns model to meet the requirements of each individual country. Following the success of the first event, a second Fair Trade towns conference was subsequently held in Brussels in January 2008. The sixth conference was held in Poznan (Poland) in November 2012, and the 2013 and 2014 international conferences are foreseen to take place in Oslo (Norway) and Kumamoto (Japan), respectively. There are currently Fair Trade Towns in [Australia](/source/Australia), [Austria](/source/Austria), [Belgium](/source/Belgium), [Brazil](/source/Brazil), [Canada](/source/Canada), [Denmark](/source/Denmark), [Finland](/source/Finland), [France](/source/France), [Ireland](/source/Republic_of_Ireland), [Italy](/source/Italy), [Norway](/source/Norway), [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand), [Spain](/source/Spain), [Sweden](/source/Sweden), the [Netherlands](/source/Netherlands), [Germany](/source/Germany), the [United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom) and the [United States](/source/United_States). The [list of Fairtrade settlements](/source/List_of_Fairtrade_settlements) is a more comprehensive current list. ## Criteria Sign announcing the Fair Trade Town status of [Wolfville](/source/Wolfville), [Canada](/source/Canada) Formal guidelines have been produced jointly by several [FLO](/source/FLO_International) member Fairtrade labelling initiatives. To be awarded [Fair Trade](/source/Fair_Trade) status, an area must meet five criteria (exact numbers and proportions vary from country to country): - Local council passes a [resolution](/source/Resolution_(law)) supporting [Fair Trade](/source/Fair_Trade), and agrees to serve Fair Trade [tea](/source/Tea) and [coffee](/source/Coffee) at its meetings and in its [offices](/source/Office) and [canteens](/source/Cafeteria). - A range of (at least two) Fair Trade products is readily available in the area's [shops](/source/Retailing#Shops_and_stores) and local [cafés](/source/Caf%C3%A9)/[catering](/source/Catering) establishments. - Target for number of retail outlets: population of < 10000 - 1 retail outlet per 2500; population < 200000 - 1 retail outlet per 5000; population of < 500000 - 1 retail outlet per 10000. - Target for number of catering outlets: population of < 10000 - 1 catering outlet per 5000; population < 200000 - 1 catering outlet per 10000; population of < 500000 - 1 catering outlet per 20000 - Fair Trade products are used by a number of local work places ([estate agents](/source/Estate_agent), [hairdressers](/source/Hairdresser), etc.) and community organisations ([churches](/source/Church_(building)), [schools](/source/School), etc.) - Attract [media](/source/Mass_media) coverage and popular support for the campaign. - A local Fair Trade steering group is convened to ensure continued commitment to its Fair Trade Town status. ## Other initiatives In 2002 The [Wales](/source/Wales) Fair Trade Forum, a network of development NGOs and Fair Trade campaigners, began working to make Wales the world's first Fair Trade country. The idea was based upon the Fair Trade Town scheme run by the [Fairtrade Foundation](/source/Fairtrade_Foundation) in the UK. In 2005 The [Welsh Assembly Government](/source/Welsh_Assembly_Government) agreed to back the idea and in 2006 Fair Trade groups from [Scotland](/source/Scotland) and Wales agreed the criteria for becoming a Fair Trade country. The draft criteria for a "Fair Trade Nation" are:[\[1\]](http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/News-Extras/fair-trade) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20130202144239/http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/News-Extras/fair-trade) 2013-02-02 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) - 75% of the population should purchase a Fair Trade product every year. - 40% of people regularly buy Fair Trade products. - All local authorities have active Fair Trade groups working towards Fair Trade status. - 55% local authority areas with Fair Trade status with 10% annual increase in following years Wales became the world's first Fair Trade nation in June 2008. ## See also - [Transition town](/source/Transition_town) - [List of Fairtrade settlements](/source/List_of_Fairtrade_settlements) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Garstang Fair Trade Town (2002). [Garstang Fair Trade Town](http://www.garstangfairtrade.org.uk/ft/fairtrade.htm). URL accessed on December 14, 2006. v t e Fair trade Core topics History of fair trade Fairtrade certification Fair trade and politics Fair trade impact studies Fair trade debate Alternative trading organization Trade justice Trade Justice Movement Sweatshops Body shopping Worldshop Federations Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International World Fair Trade Organization Network of European Worldshops European Fair Trade Association FINE Fair Trade Federation International Resources for Fairer Trade (IRFT) Certification Fair trade certification Fairtrade International FLO-CERT (inspection & certification) International Fairtrade Certification Mark Fair Trade Certified Mark Labeling initiatives Asociación del Sello de Productos de Comercio Justo Fair Trade Association of Australia & New Zealand Fairtrade Mark Ireland The Fairtrade Foundation Association Max Havelaar France Stichting Max Havelaar Max Havelaar-Stiftung Switzerland Fairtrade Canada Fair Trade USA (formerly TransFair USA) Alternative trading organizations Alter Eco Artisans du Monde Cafédirect Ctm altromercato Divine Chocolate Equal Exchange Equal Exchange Trading Rainforest Alliance Gepa The Fair Trade Company Handcrafting Justice SERRV International Traidcraft Twin Trading Ten Thousand Villages Campaigns Fairtrade Town List of Fairtrade settlements Fairtrade fortnight Make Trade Fair No Sweat World Fair Trade Day Media Black Gold (2006 film) Brewing Justice (book) Category:Fair trade --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fairtrade Town](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairtrade_Town) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairtrade_Town?action=history)). 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