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WFTO BIENNIAL CONFERENCE

CONFERENCE TRIVIA

WFTO Biennial Conference is the largest global gathering of organizations representing the Fair
Trade supply chain, from producers to wholesalers and retailers. Being organized every two years in
a WFTO member country, it is the only International event that brings all actors of the Fair Trade
movement in one place, along with Policy makers and academicians. The journey of the conference
started in 1991 in IRELAND with 38 members and over the years it has traversed across 5 continents
with a membership base of more than 400 members
38
members

JOURNEY OVER THE YEARS

OOTY 1997 MARYLAND 1995 KILKENNY 1991

BLANKENBERGE 2007 QUITO 2005 NEWCASTLE 2003 ARUSHA 2001 MILAN 1999

400 + RIO DE JANEIRO 2013 MOMBASA 2011 KATHMANDU 2009

member NEW DELHI 2017 MILAN 2015

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IMPACT OVER THE YEARS

 Guarantee scheme- An accountability and development tool for organisations, developed with the aim of
improving Fair Trade practices in the supply chain. It has five major components: new membership admission
procedure, Self Assessment Report, Monitoring Audit, Peer Visit, and the Fair Trade Accountability Watch
(FTAW).

 Retailer Standards- WFTO has outlined “minimum standards” which have to be fulfilled by all Fair Trade
retailers at the global level.

 FT Towns- The Fair Trade towns campaign is the result of a grass-roots citizen’s movement that started in the
UK in 2001 (see below). It allows citizens to get together in order to self-proclaim their town (or other local
geographical area) as a region that complies with a few general fair trade criteria, that can be adapted from
country to country but which retain their main elements.

 Policies in various countries- Several countries like Brazil have included Fair Trade in their policy. WFTO and

Fair Tarde International have jointly started Fair Trade Advocacy Office to lead FT advocacy across the world.