fair trade
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GC: n

S: FT – https://bit.ly/2HFV0vn (last access: 27 December 2018); (last access: 27 December 2018); UN – https://bit.ly/2RoW0Ms (last access: 27 December 2018).

N: 1. – fair (adj): Old English fæger “pleasing to the sight (of persons and body features, also of objects, places, etc.); beautiful, handsome, attractive,” of weather, “bright, clear, pleasant; not rainy,” also in late Old English “morally good,” from Proto-Germanic *fagraz (source also of Old Saxon fagar, Old Norse fagr, Swedish fager, Old High German fagar “beautiful,” Gothic fagrs “fit”), perhaps from PIE *pek- (1) “to make pretty” (source also of Lithuanian puošiu “I decorate”).
– trade (n): Late 14c., “path, track, course of action,” introduced by the Hanse merchants, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German trade “track, course” (probably originally of a ship), cognate with Old English tredan.
Sense of “one’s habitual business” (1540s) developed from the notion of “way, course, manner of life” (mid-15c.); sense of “buying and selling, exchange of commodities” is from 1550s. Meaning “act of trading” is from 1829. Trade-name is from 1821; trade-route is from 1873; trade-war is from 1899. Trade union is attested from 1831. Trade wind (1640s) has nothing to do with commerce, but preserves the obsolete sense of “in a habitual or regular course.”
2. Fair trade, global movement to improve the lives of farmers and workers in developing countries by ensuring that they have access to export markets and are paid a fair price for their products. Those objectives are often achieved by establishing direct trading relationships between small-scale producers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and fair trade organizations (FTOs) in the United States and Europe, thereby eliminating intermediary buyers and sellers. A subsidiary goal of the movement in developed countries is to increase consumer awareness of unjust and unfair international trade practices.
3. Since the end of the 1980s, normal commercial companies have been more likely to be involved in fair trade initiatives and the products are marketed according to the usual rules. In this regard, systems for labelling products were introduced in order to ensure their authenticity. There are several fair trade labels (‘Fairtrade Mark’, etc.) and each has a certification agency which verifies all the stages in the production process to ensure that the product respects fair trade principles. The certification bodies also set the criteria that must be respected in order for a product to carry a fair trade label. These criteria are harmonised at international level. All the labels are members of the FLO (Fair Trade Labelling Organisations International) which is responsible for coordination at EU and international level.

S: 1. OED – https://bit.ly/2VcoJDe (last access: 27 December 2018). 2. EncBrit – https://bit.ly/2rZv3QS (last access: 27 December 2018). 3. EUR-Lex – https://bit.ly/2CDti29 (last access: 6 November 2013).

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CR: humanitarian aid