Fair Trade Danmark - sustainable lifestyle

Fair Trees Fund

By

Fair Trees Christmas trees are sold all over Europe.

Fair Trees has been certified by Fair Trade Denmark and is a genuine helping hand to the cone pickers of Georgia. Fair Trees Christmas trees are produced from seeds provided by Fair Seeds, a member of the World Fair Trade Organisation.

The Fair Trees Fund

  • ensures the education, health measures and general development for the local population of Georgia, one of Europe’s poorest countries
  • improves the living and working conditions for Georgian cone pickers.
  • promotes the purification and production of Christmas trees in compliance with the principles of sustainability and eco-friendliness.

Become a Member

By

When is a membership a good idea for you?

The greatest advantage of becoming attached to Fair Trade Denmark either as a shop member or an importer is that this gives the right to use Fair Trade Denmark’s logo as a recognized and protected trademark. Through this, you show that you have been monitored for working respectfully with the 10 Fair Trade principles.

Desuden furthermore

  • you become a part of an active network of other professional players who work with developing both market and possibilities for Fair Trade in Denmark
  • you can require marketing help in connection with Fair Trade through the home page, campaigns, trade fairs and events
  • you have the possibility to get professional advice and paid consultant help for expanding you shop,
  • you get access to knowledge and information about Fair Trade
  • You have the possibility to contribute actively to Fair Trade Denmark’s contribution to solidarity-based trade.

There are various memberships of fair Trade Denmark

  • shop member if you have your own shop and at least 70 of your articles are Fair trade
  • importer member if you import nothing but Fair Trade goods
  • supporting member if, as a private person or organization, you want to lend a hand to Fair Trade Denmark’s work..

Contact us if you are interested.

Certification

By

Gradually, many companies have begun to use terms like “fair trade”, “sustainable and ethical production” and “socially responsible” as part of their marketing. Therefore, it is important to have some fundamental guidelines to ensure that the products which are launched as fair trade are just that and not only part of a slick marketing campaign.

Many years ago, Fair Trade players began to develop monitoring and certification systems – both nationally and internationally. In accordance with the two main guide lines in the Fair Trade movement, there are two different certificates:

On the one hand, Fair Trade products are supplied with a certificate from FLO (Fair Trade labelling Organizations). Consumers find the so-called Fairtrade goods (Fair Trade in one word) in ordinary supermarkets and at a retailer’s. The Fair Trade criteria are valid only for the ingredients of the article in question and say nothing about the business praxis of the respective manufacturer or retailer.

On the other hand, there are WFTO’s certificates on especially non-food goods which guarantee that the Fair Trade criteria are valid not only for the product, but also for all players involved in the production and distribution.

To create a trustworthy Danish certificate that an article has been produced, imported and sold according to Fair Trade principles, Fair Trade Denmark is in charge of an independent and trustworthy approval and monitoring procedure for importers and shops in Denmark, based on WFTO’s 10 Fair Trade standards. Besides, great care is taken that rules for using the FTD logo are observed.

Approval and evaluation are taken care of either by WFTO or the extern, impartial control committee EMU under Fair Trade Denmark, consisting of resourceful persons with great knowledge and experience of Fair Trade and the developing countries. The main field of responsibility for the committee is the handling of applications for Fair Trade approval from shops and importers plus the monitoring of already approved shops and importers. Every two years, approved shops and importers must be evaluated.

The committee consists of three members

Signe Pejstrup: Msc. Development and International Relations
Charlotte Bøgelund Frederiksen: Cand. Scient. Soc. Internationale Udviklingsstudier og Geografi
Gertrud Grabbert: Msc. Development and International Relations

About the WFTO

By

Fair Trade Denmark is a member of the International World Fair Trade Organization (the WFTO). The WFTO has defined 10 standards for Fair Trade which the members of the organizations are obliged to adhere to:

The 10 standards are:

  • To create opportunities for financially weak producers
  • Transparency and responsibility
  • Responsible trade praxis
  • Fair prices
  • Avoid child and forced labour
  • Anti-discrimination, equality and freedom of association
  • Healthy and safe working conditiions
  • Augmentation of capacity
  • To further fair trade
  • Sustainable environmental administration

Read an extensive description of the 10 WFTO standards; 10 WFTO-standarder

Read more about the Fair Trade Organization.

Fair Trade Shops

By

are a window on the world which offer an understanding of and insight into various cultures in Africa, South America and Asia.

The product range in the Fair Trade shops is wide: from jewelry, decorative artefacts , textiles to toys. All products share one thing, however. They are of a special quality and constitute, at the same time, a little global trade politics. They have been marketed according to Fair Trade principles.

Fair Trade Shop in Vejle

The shops not only trade with Fair Trade Denmark importers, but also with other suppliers approved by the international WFTO-organization. Great importance is attached to the offer not only addressing people who can afford to buy expensive and exclusive goods. Everybody must be able to buy Fair Trade goods. The more goods the shop can sell, the more the producers need to deliver.

Great efforts are made to ensure that Fair Trade goods can cope with the competition on the Danish market. Therefore, most shops are run by volunteers who are members of a nonprofit organization. In this way, shop costs are kept low and the producers are ensured fair payment.

The way of the shops to establish a competitive advantage for Fair Trade goods is comparable to the handicap system in golf which allows everyone to play against each other, regardless of huge differences in their golf skills. The Fair Trade concept is based on the idea that global trade with the third world should give the underdeveloped countries an advantage in order to create the necessary development. Thus, the shops are a necessary propagator of the intentions behind Fair Trade.

A good example:
Fair Trade Shop Lolland has become a tourist attraction on Lolland-Falster which Anne Pilø Melillo mentions in her alternative guide book, “111 places on Lolland-Falster you should see.” (Frydenlund 2018). She writes, “here you find yard long giraffes, alpaca socks from Peru and glass jewelry from Ghana. You may find offers of computer sleeves made from bike tires with a gaudy lining, rag rugs from India, batik coloured scarves and colourful shawls. Many of the products are handmade. Some of them decidedly artifacts. Often recycled materials have been used in the production: crushed glass, beer cans and paper wrapping. A decorative cock may have started life as a coke tin can. You start thinking of your own consumption when you gaze at the beautiful artefacts in your hand.