Official Press release Wording for BAFTS' week 21st-28th September 2013

BAFTS (The British Association for Fair Trade Shops and Suppliers) is delighted to announce its first ever campaign week from 21-28 September. Set up in 1998, BAFTS is a membership organisation for suppliers who import, and shops who sell, a minimum of 70% fair trade goods from recognised sources. Its members are vetted by peer review on an annual basis, and customers can shop or order with confidence from a BAFTS member, knowing that this organisation has had its fair trade principles monitored and assessed annually.   

BAFTS is a member organisation of the WFTO (World Fair Trade Organisation) and also of WFTO-Europe. BAFTS is also recognised by the WFTO as the national fair trade networking organisation in the UK, and adheres to their Ten Principles of Fair Trade. For full details, please go to http://www.bafts.org.uk/resources BAFTS prides itself on the fact that its members work to bring about changes in the status of developing world producers through Fair Trade retailing and campaigning. Most members have links with Fairtrade Towns’ campaigns across the country and are passionate about Trade Justice.

The primary aim of the week is to raise awareness of BAFTS and its almost 150 members, independent businesses who sell fairly traded goods in locations all around the UK. It is also an attempt to answer the questions: what about products for which there is no FAIRTRADE Mark ? How can we be sure that they are fairly-traded? Whilst many consumers recognise the FAIRTRADE Mark thanks to successful publicity by the Fairtrade Foundation, and campaigning by Fairtrade towns, this is not the only organisation dedicated to fair trade. Items that can be certified Fairtrade are usually products that are grown, like cotton, rubber and food. The Fairtrade Foundation describes the situation thus:

  ‘Fairtrade certification and its system of minimum pricing were designed for commodity products. It is technically difficult to adapt this model of standardized minimum pricing to crafts and other products made by small-scale artisans, which are each unique and have highly varied production processes and costs.’

In our opinion, a good starting point for the answers to these questions lies in membership of BAFTS, building on the solid foundation of the WFTO 10 Principles of Fair Trade, and adding to the mix a community with a wealth of experience, commitment, passion and shared goals.