Frequently Asked Questions

From Hooked - Students for Trade Justice

This page should contain questions and answers to frequently asked questions. If you have any questions, please feel free to post them here.

[edit] Fair Trade

[edit] What is the difference between 'fair trade', 'Fair Trade', 'Fairtrade' and 'FAIRTRADE'?

fair trade refers to the general movement for a fairer global trading system

Fairtrade refers to the certification system, or a FLO certified product eg. I only buy Fairtrade, Fairtrade coffee

FAIRTRADE refers to the FLO label that appears on all Fairtrade certified products, and should only be used in the phrase "FAIRTRADE label" or "FAIRTRADE logo"

[edit] What is the difference between fair trade and free trade?

Free trade advocates the removal of all barriers to trade including import and export taxes and subsidies which protect local producers from the global market. In theory Free trade would make everybody equal however in reality not all countries are adopting free trade in the same way. Poorer countries are often forced to adopt free trade because it is argued that this is the way to develop their economy. This means that they remove all trade barriers making imports cost less. Cheap Imports from developed countries like the USA and the EU weaken the local economy and create unemployment. These imports are only cheaper because of the double standards of free trade. developed countries often subsidise their products by up to 200%. In other words rich governments pay their farmers money so that they can sell their products for a very low price. As the famous Indian Scholar Vandana Shiva writes "Trade Liberalisation (another name for free trade)removes protections for people and nature and replaces them with protections for corporations. Fair trade recognises this imbalance and tries to correct it by redirecting money back from the developed world into the developing world. For more information on Rigged Trade Rules go here