Fairtrade plays an important role in making supply chains fairer. But certification alone cannot address the power imbalances of today’s market system. This is why we're pushing for long-term political change towards 

• fairer and more sustainable trade practices
• production systems that are characterised by agroecological practices,
• sustainable livelihoods,
• fair prices,
• responsible business practices,
• and climate resilience. 

And who knows best how to address issues that affect those who produce food, clothes and other commodities? Farmers and workers! Which is why Fairtrade advocacy is shaped by their diverse views and needs. Each of the three Fairtrade producer networks have regional advocacy strategies and aim to influence relevant national legislation, delegations of Fairtrade farmers and workers regularly make their voices heard at high level events, and young Fairtrade farmers receive training to build their skills as leaders and advocates.

And since we're stronger together, we do our advocacy work in partnership with other organisations: For instance, we’re a member of the Climate Action Network, and the Farmers’ Constituency. We lobby together with other voluntary sustainability systems and are a member of ISEAL. Most of our EU advocacy work is done in collaboration with the Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO) in Brussels.

Here's what we do in practice:

• Monitor and influence policy and legislative processes in the EU and worldwide.
• Partner with UN bodies and participate in relevant global events
• Engage with policy-makers.
• Build alliances with civil society organisations and other partners, and take part in multi-stakeholders initiatives. 

ACCORDION

What we want: Fairtrade’s advocacy goals.

• Inclusive, participatory, and social policies that benefit smallholder farmers and workers in countries where we operate: We aim for greater participation of producers in policy-making – so they can receive a fairer share of the value in global trade, progress towards decent livelihoods, and transition to fair and sustainable food systems.
  
• Policy reforms that protect human and environmental rights in global supply chains: We call for ambitious human rights and environmental due diligence laws [LINK to HREDD page] and policies at national, EU and global levels, that protect the rights of farmers and workers and are accompanied by measures to assist them in achieving compliance.
• Stopping unfair trading practices: We push for improved conditions for responsible and environmentally friendly business practices – through laws and policies as well as commitments from companies.
• Fair prices that cover the costs of sustainable production and make living incomes and living wages possible: We’re engaging with experts, policy-makers and companies, as well as civil society and farmer organisations to find the best approaches to make sustainable livelihoods a reality.
• Reducing barriers to access finance: We’re asking donors, companies and policy-makers to ensure that climate finance takes the forms of grants rather than loans and focusses on adaptation rather than mitigation. We also want more funds to reach smallholder farmers to support compliance with HREDD and deforestation laws as well as their overall transition to agroecology.
• An enabling environment for Fair Trade:  We aim to ensure that those who produce in sustainable ways and invest in transparency and traceability are rewarded and have easier access to markets – via public procurement, competition laws, or taxation.

Fairtrade advocates for farmers and workers to co-design the political decisions that affect their rights, businesses and livelihoods. We call on policy makers, civil society organisations, and citizens to join us in making sure their challenges are being addressed. Together we can make fair food systems a reality! LINK to engage section

Resources

Global Green Deal joint call to action (2024)

Fairtrade’s sustainable agriculture policy (2023)

COP28 Fair Trade Movement position paper (2023)

Recommendations from the cocoa producers summit in Abidjan (May 2023)

Webinar: Between markets and regulations - the quest for fair food pricing. (May 2024)

Webinar: What role can voluntary standards play in the context of supply chain laws? (November 2023)

OPTIONAL – INFO BOX

Fairtrade calls for a Global Green Deal

To be fair for everyone, we believe that Europe's green transition should go global and acknowledge the interconnectedness of consumer demands in the EU and production outside of it. The current set of policy initiatives under the European Green Deal is hard to implement for farmers and risks to cause environmentally and socially harmful impacts in producing countries outside the EU, rather than tackling inequality and poverty. We strongly believe that environmental policies can only work if they are rooted in the realities of farmers, workers, small and medium enterprises, and consumers.

We’re asking the EU to transform the EU Green Deal into a Global Green Deal by:

• Boosting long-term finance for smallholder farmers.
• Pursuing a just transition strategy that allows farmers to work towards compliance.
• Reforming EU trade policies with smallholder farmers in mind.
• Enabling Fair Trade to play a role in trade policies.
• Transforming the EU economic model.