Join us on the 20^th of May from 11:00 to 18:00 at the EESC, Rue Belliard 99/101, 1040, Bruxelles.

This conference will bring together policymakers, companies, academics and civil society to explore how public policies can enable living incomes and living wages for workers and smallholder farmers in global agri-food supply chains, also showcasing best practices and ongoing initiatives.

The event will build on the Public Policy Roadmap on Living Income and Living Wage in Global Agricultural Supply Chains, recently published by Fairtrade. This important document draws attention to the many options public authorities have to create an enabling policy framework for living incomes and living wages, highlighting the role of governments as regulators, economic actors, and partners.

With growing regulatory developments such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the Unfair Trading Practices Directive (UTP), and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), this discussion comes at a pivotal moment, as we transition from ambition to implementation.

We would be glad to have you with us, please register here. Interpretation from English to French and vice-versa will be provided. Livestreaming will not be available.

See the full program below.

Program

11h00 Welcoming words: 30 min

• Philippe Weiler, CEO, Fairtrade Belgium
• Virginia Enssle, International and Institutional Relations Manager, Fair Trade Advocacy Office
• Klaas Johan Osinga, Member of the EESC International Trade Follow-up Committee

11h30 Key-Note Speech

• Guillaume Delautre, Project Manager, International Labour Organisation (ILO) (15min)

11h45 Introduction to the Fairtrade Public Policy Roadmap

• Matthias Altmann, Corporate Sustainability Expert & Co-Author of the Public Policy Roadmap (15 min)

12h00 Perspectives from civil society and from companies

• Solomon Boateng, IMS Manager – Risk & Certification for Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union (KKFU) (10 min)
• Representative of German retailer DM (10min)
• Francesca Monteverdi, Policy Advisor on Trade Justice, Oxfam (10min)

12h30 Q&A from the public

13h00 Lunch

14h00 Panel session 1

Governments as regulators for creating an enabling policy environment for a coherent legal framework for living incomes and living wages + Q&A

Moderator: Heidi Hautala, FTAO Board Member, former Vice President of the European Parliament and MEP for the Greens.

• Representative of the European Commission (tbc)
• Charlotte Bernhard, Senior Policy Advisor of the department on Sustainable Economic Development of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.
• Pamela Rocha, Diplomat, Culture, Trade and Sustainable Development, Embassy of Ecuador to Belgium and Luxembourg.
• Michael Ekow Amoah, Deputy Director of Research and Development, Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).

15h30 Coffee break

16h00 Panel session 2

Governments as partners in stakeholder collaboration and support + Q&A.

Moderator: Honore Johnson, Better Jobs and Living Wages Senior Innovation Manager, IDH

• Philipp Wagnitz, Director Quality and Sustainability at Lidl International
• Iresha Sanjeewanie, Climate Focal Point & Program Manager (Sri Lanka), Fairtrade Network of Asia and Pacific Producers (NAPP)
•  Company representative tbc
•  Other speakers tbc 

17h30 Closing words

• Philipp Wagnitz, Director Quality and Sustainability at Lidl International
• Government representative

18h00 Networking drinks