Fair Trade News

Bringing the Fair Trade Certified Message to World Leaders

On September 23-26, in New York City, TransFair USA CEO Paul Rice shared the stage with such luminaries as President Bill Clinton (see accompanying photo), HM Queen Rania of Jordan, musician and philanthropist Bono, and many more at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). Paul has represented TransFair USA as a CGI member since 2007.

The Annual Meetings of CGI convene representatives of government, industry, and leading NGOs to work together to tackle four critical issues: Poverty Alleviation, Global Health, Energy and Climate Change, and Education. These issues are approached through Commitments to Action made by CGI members. At a working session of the Poverty Alleviation group, Paul reported on our progress to date on our 2007 Commitment to Action to introduce Fair Trade Certified flowers to the U.S. market, and announced our 2008 Commitment, to introduce Fair Trade Certified garments by late 2009.

Our progress to date in the flower sector has been truly inspiring, and is making a real difference in the lives of more than 10,000 women and men in Africa and Latin America. We’ve certified more than 2 million stems from Kenya, Ecuador, and Colombia. Our eight U.S. industry partners have provided flower workers with nearly $140,000 in premium funding dedicated to social and community development projects, democratically selected by beneficiaries themselves. These include free health and childcare facilities, microfinance programs to support income diversification, home loans, schools and scholarships, and more.

Click here to watch a webcast of the session.