Gateshead Aims for Fairtrade Status

Councillors are calling on shops, cafes and other catering establishments within the borough to stock Fairtrade products and offer them to their customers - so joining Gateshead Council in its bid to win Fairtrade status for the borough.

To qualify as a Fairtrade Town, and least 20 catering establishments within Gateshead and 40 retail shops need to sign up to the scheme. Any business joining the scheme will be allowed to display a framed Fairtrade certificate in their premises, window stickers on their doors and windows, and use the Fairtrade logo prominently on their publicity, their menus, their letterheads and on their vehicles.

The bid will be launched at Café Eight by the Mayor of Gateshead, Councillor Joe Mitchison, who will formally present the first framed certificate to the café's owners.

Businesses will also be listed in a Gateshead Fairtrade Directory which will show both the public and other businesses where they can buy Fairtrade products.

Coun John Eagle, Gateshead's Fairtrade Champion, says:

"Switching to buying coffee, tea, chocolate, snack bars and others foodstuffs with the Fairtrade mark is an easy way for local councils to have a positive impact on world poverty, and it helps to strengthen our strategy for sustainable development in accordance with Local Agenda 21."

"There is a growing body of evidence to indicate that, increasingly, a rising number of people are making key choices based on Fairtrade and a modern Council needs to respond to that.

"Increasing the profile of Fairtrade, at both local and national level, has obvious benefits for producers in developing countries and the council benefits by demonstrating that it takes into account wider issues in is policies and operations."

To launch the scheme, the Mayor of Gateshead Councillor Joe Mitchinson, will present the first Fairtrade certificate to the owners of Café Eight at Regent Terrace, Gateshead on (date to be confirmed). Councillor Eagle, Gateshead's Fairtrade Champion, will also be present.

The term Fairtrade covers a wide range of activities aimed at helping producers and workers in developing countries receive a fair price for their products. Products marked with the Fairtrade symbol show that they have been sourced from the developing world and that they meet internationally-recognised standards of fair trade.

Gateshead Council has been an enthusiastic supporter of Fairtrade since 1998 and for some time has served only Fairtrade tea and coffee at its meetings and in its offices and canteens. The North East Purchasing Organisation, which procures a wide range of supplies for local authorities in Tyne and Wear and which Gateshead Council is the lead authority, already has a Fairtrade policy which encourages its members to source products from Fairtrade sources wherever possible.

Over the past few years, Fairtrade has developed into a high profile and successful movement through the guidance of the Fairtrade Foundation and developing businesses such as Traidcraft, which is based on the Team Valley Trading Estate in Gateshead. The Make Poverty History campaign, responsible for last year's Live 8 concert in London, has added greater impetus to the concept of Fair Trade.