It has taken 60 years to get to World Fair Trade Day 2009. It’s vital that it doesn’t take another 60 years to correct the imbalance in trade that leaves millions of people living in poverty and the threat of climate change hanging over us all.

The Fair Trade movement is complex and has emerged over time and continents through networks of groups and individuals - everyone who stakes a claim to its success is probably right. World Fair Trade Day was adopted by the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) and its members in 2001 in Arusha, Tanzania, to promote global awareness of Fair Trade. But its roots extend back into Northern Europe and the NEWS network of shops that were fundamental in driving Fair Trade and creating access to markets on behalf of producers the world over. Since then, World Fair Trade Day has grown into a global celebration of Fair Trade with events organized worldwide, on and around the second Saturday of May by members of the International Fair Trade Association across 70 countries.

Events have included Fair Trade breakfasts, talks, markets, live performances, fashion shows, carnivals, processions and protests, to drive Fair Trade and campaign for justice in trade and promote sustainable environmental policy. Fair Trade products and produce from marginalised communities are showcased on the day.

The International Fair Trade Association was formally established in 1989 and is unique in representing both Southern and Northern Fair Traders across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and the Pacific Rim. It represents the world’s leading Fair Trade cooperatives, groups and companies, all of which have demonstrated a 100% commitment to Fair Trade. IFAT is the organization behind this site and the ideas and practices it promotes.