FAIR TRADE
Introduction

The current functioning of the global economy suffers from imbalances increasingly obvious that particularly affect producers of tropical agricultural products, victims of agro-industrial policies based primarily on yield and profit.

Prices and purchasing conditions are imposed without negotiation and most often, these purchase prices do not cover even production costs. Thus, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture, on the 840 million people suffering from hunger by 2005, 800 million are farmers.

Trade is essential to any company and based in part on social ties. However, its current organization is often unbeknownst to the producer as consumer and at the expense of the producer and consumer

Trade becomes a strict power stake and private gain related to the short-term speculation. Most often unfair, it trivializes a relationship of domination - dominated. The consequences are unbearable for humans as for the social, economic, ecological and cultural.

Faced with this situation, the purpose of fair trade is to allow producers and consumers to live their dignity and independence by regaining control and direction of their actions.

On our file, we will present, at first, the fair trade's history. Then, we will expose some figures about fair trade and who are its actors. And at the end, we will see what are the benefits and the critics about this kind of trade.

I- Fair trade history

Despite the fact that no universally accepted definition of Fair Trade exists, Fair Trade labelling organizations most commonly refer to a definition developed by FINE, an informal association of four international fair trade networks : Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International, World Fair Trade Organization, Network of European Worldshops and European Fair Trade Association,
So Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It