I am sure that almost everyone is quite familiar with the word 'Fairtrade'. And specially my fellow classmates, studying LLM International Commercial Law at the Northumbria University, who did a workshop on 'Fairtrade'. But I am not quite sure that whether anyone is aware of 'Fairtrade Towns' or not.
If not, than I hope you all might be interested in knowing about the Fairtrade Towns. According to the Fairtrade Foundation, "A Fairtrade Town is a town, city, village, county, zone, island or borough that has made a commitment to supporting Fairtrade and using products with the FAIRTRADE Mark" (http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/get_involved/campaigns/fairtrade_towns/about_fairtrade_towns.aspx). In the Fairtrade Towns everyone tries their level best to do whatever they can to support fairtrade and promote the FAIRTRADE Mark. I think this is only possible with the contribution of each and every individuals in the community.
Anyways, you would be surprised to know about the first Fairtrade Town in the world! It was in April 2000 when Garstang in Lancashire declared itself the first Fairtrade Town in the world! Not only this achievement of theirs caught the imagination of the local people and the interest of the politicians, but most importantly it inspired the other towns and boroughs across the UK to be committed to Fairtrade and work hard for getting the status of Fairtrade Town. You should also know that London is the Fairtrade Capital of UK.
At present, according to the Fairtrade Foundation, there are 400 Fairtrade Towns in the UK and some 200 are campaigning towards this glorious status! More interestingly this campaign is no longer confined within the UK border; at present, there are Fairtrade campaigns in 17 countries in the world, although with different names of initiative.
And the most important thing is that our Newcastle is also a Fairtrade Town!! Isn't that great? I guess, we the residents of Newcastle are definitely proud of this status. Don't really know about others, but at least I am proud of this. It does make us stand out of the crowd in this era of globalisation.
Anyways, before discussing on an international context I should let you know that not all the countries have a Fairtrade Capital like the UK has. Take for example Australia- it doesn't have a Fairtrade Capital but it does have Fairtrade Towns, like Melbourne, whereas France has got a Fairtrade Capital, i.e., Paris, but there are no other Fairtrade Towns in France other than Paris. In the same way there are many more countries around the world with Fairtrade Capitals and Towns/ Cities.
Source:
Fairtrade Foundation
Intrenational Fairtrade Town
