2009年6月13日星期六

FAIR TRADE






又到周末,意大利的商店到了周末只有在周六上午营业,下午一直到周日晚上都关门,今天不睡懒觉了,赶紧出门逛逛。
绕来绕去走进一家店,确实手工艺品还有一些食品,看起来不像意大利制造,一个木桌上摆得都是广告模样的宣传单,连猜带蒙看懂一个是介绍下周在Palermo有几场免费音乐会,流行,JAZZ,ROCK,这个我感兴趣。 收银台坐着个戴眼镜的黑发意大利女孩,scusa,questo cosa?mmmm。。。。。。突然发现她会英语,还是用英语吧。原来这个商店属于Fair trade 这个国际组织,这里贩卖的都是来自非洲的手工制品,食品,花等等,具有公益性质。赶紧回家做做功课看看什么是Fair trade.
女孩28岁,名叫Claudia,天主教徒,知道我从中国来,还请我帮她写中文名字,我把它翻译成——克劳迪娅,应该是这样吧,嘿嘿。 上次帮一个new york 女孩HERSH翻译她的名字,我翻成——荷诗,哈哈听起来比较美。


What Is Fair Trade?
Fair trade is an international alternative trading system designed to empower disadvantaged farmers, artisans, and labourers. The movement began 50 years ago when international aid organizations worked to help farmers and labourers in Africa break free from oppressive trading practices. These inequitable trading practices still exist today.
Farmers and artisans in developing countries rely on intermediaries for market information and trade. These middlemen usually pay less than market price and keep the producers trapped in a cycle of poverty. Small-scale farmers cant afford to produce the crop. They cant afford the overhead or their financings interest rates. They abandon their farms, or, in the case of some cocoa producers, they employ unpaid workers, often children.
Through fair trade, farmers and artisans deal directly with members of fair trade organizations, bypassing the middleman and receiving a fair and sustainable wage for their work. According to the Fair Trade Federation, the goal of a member organization is to benefit the artisans they work with, not maximize profits. By reducing the number of middlemen and minimizing overhead costs, FTOs (fair trade organizations) return up to 40 percent of the retail price of an item to the producer. Producers receive a fair wage for their product, children are not exploited, and long-term relationships are encouraged to provide continuity in trading. Fair trade considers the enduring well-being of the person behind the product.
Who Decides Whats Fair?
In Canada, the Fair Trade Certified logo is managed by TransFair Canada, a nonprofit organization that belongs to the international Fairtrade Labeling Organization (FLO). Use of the logo comes with very strict rules and terms, to which all members are bound by contract.
The Canadian Fair Trade Certified logo is applied to product-specific items only, meaning that the product, not the company, is certified as fair trade. On the other hand, the Fair Trade Federation logo identifies the company as a certified member. Two of the largest members in the US are Ten Thousand Villages and SERRV International.
The Fair Trade Federation and FLO monitor their producers and members. They ensure that the playing field of trade is level and fair. For the consumer, these logos assure that the goods are produced in environmentally responsible conditions and that the cultures and communities of the worker are respected and sustained.
Is It Working?
Yes. According to the Fair Trade Federation, sales for Ten Thousand Villages in the US and Canada between 1985 and 1998 increased by nearly $15 million, creating over 12,000 full-time jobs for artisans and farmers.
As more consumers use their purchasing power for social justice, large corporations consider the fair trade alternative. Currently, there are 117 Canadian fair trade licensees, and 44 source countries are registered with the FLO. Todays fair trade products include crafts, coffee, tea, chocolate, soaps, cosmetics, sugar, and fruit. Coming soon are wines, nuts, oils, and more.

公平贸易(Fair Trade)
  公平贸易是一个有组织的社会运动,在贴有公平交易标签及其相关产品之中,它提倡一种关于全球劳工、环保及社会政策的公平性标准,其产品从手工艺品到农产品不足而一,这个运动特别关注那些自发展中国家销售到发达国家的外销。
  公平交易运动,试图透过与被边缘化的生产者及劳工的紧密合作,将他们从易受伤的角色,转化成为经济上的自给自足与安全,它也试图赋权他们,使他们成为其自己组织的利害关系人,同时在全球市场中扮演更积极的角色,以促进国际贸易的公平性。
  公平交易运动的组成份子,包括了范围广泛的一些国际宗教、发展援助、社会及环境组织,像是乐施会、国际特赦组织或天主教国际明爱(Caritas International)等等。
  公平交易以一种致力于发展的努力,极具争议性,同时引发了政治光谱左右两极的批评,有些经济学家及保守智库,认为公平交易只是另一种型式的补贴,妨碍经济成长,某些左派则批判公平交易不够激进。
  在2005年,全世界公平交易的销售约为十一亿英镑,每年约成长37%。虽不到全球实体商品的百分之一,但公平交易的商品约占北美及欧洲市场的0.5%到5%,全球有超过一百五十万人的弱势生产者直接受益于公平交易运动,同时另外有五百万人受益于公平交易所资助的基础建设及社区发展计划。

更多关于FAIR TRADE参考http://baike.baidu.com/view/911612.htm

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