Fairtrade & Fair Trade

Bishopston Trading Company was founded in 1985 as a trading partnership between the community of Bishopston in Bristol and the village of K.V.Kuppam in South India.

By fair trade we mean a strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development whose purpose is to create opportunities for producers who are economically disadvantaged in the conventional trading system.

We are members of the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO) and licensees of the Fairtrade Foundation. All the cotton used in our products is Fairtrade certified and carries the widely-recognised Fairtrade Mark.

The Fairtrade Foundation

The Fairtrade Mark is an independent guarantee that the small-scale farmers who produced the agricultural commodity in the labelled product, in our case cotton, were paid a fair and stable price.  The Fairtrade Foundation in the UK, is one of a network of national labelling initiatives which promote and regulate the use of the Fairtrade Mark.

The mark also guarantees that the farmers� communities
receive the additional Fairtrade Premium payment which must be invested in development projects which contribute to the wellbeing of the whole community.  The standards behind the mark also ensure that the certified agricultural commodities are farmed in an environmentally responsible way, and that trading relationships are built around long-term partnership commitments.

www.fairtrade.org.uk www.fairtrade.net

World Fair Trade Organisation

Bishopston Trading Company is recognised as a fair trade
Organisation by the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO), previously IFAT.  Members of WFTO are organisations that demonstrate a 100% commitment to fair trade and apply the 10 Principles of Fair Trade:

To create opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers.

To operate with transparency and accountability.

To offer capacity building opportunities to producers.

To promote Fair Trade.

To pay a fair price, one that is agreed through dialogue and covers the cost of socially just and environmentally sound production.

To ensure gender equity and the empowerment of women.

To provide safe and healthy working conditions.

To respect the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child � particularly in reference to child labour.

To encourage better environmental practices.

To trade with concern for the well-being of
marginalised small producers, to maintain long term relationships and to provide prepayment when needed.

www.wfto.com