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World Fair Trade Organization - Europe

WFTO-Europe

WFTO-Europe has a vision of a world in which trade structures and practices have been transformed to work in favour of the marginalised producers and artisans and to promote sustainable development and justice.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Leonard Mizzi (Head of Unit Directorate-General for International Partnerships)

25 Sept 2025 · Exchange with Fair Trade Advocacy Office on EU Green Deal and sustainability provisions and impact on developing countries

Response to Targeted amendment to the CMO and other CAP Regulations strengthening farmers position in the food supply chain

10 Mar 2025

The World Fair Trade Organization-Europe (WFTO-Europe) acknowledges and supports the efforts of the European Commission to improve the position of farmers in agri-food supply chains. The proposal for setting conditions under which the terms fair, equitable and equivalents may be used could help combat misleading claims by companies, increasing the number of cases where farmers get a fair remuneration for their produce. However, unless the Commission sets its definition by the same standards applied by economic operators in the Fair Trade movement, there is a significant risk that lower-standard operators will appropriate these terms and undercut those with higher standards by misleading consumers. The term fair trade is already well-defined in the International Fair Trade Charter, agreed and published by the Fair Trade movement with direct support from over 250 organisations, amongst them both economic operators and civil society organisations. We urge the Commission to build on this definition. In addition, it is vital that the regulations on this are aligned with the French legal framework, which already employs a legal definition of fair trade. Please see our full feedback in the letter in attachment.
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Response to Evaluation of the Public Procurement Directives

7 Mar 2025

WFTO-Europe acknowledges the steps taken through the EU's 2014/24 Directive to encourage socially and environmentally responsible public procurement. However, as a network representing more than 80 SMEs fully practicing Fair Trade in 17 EU member states, we find its implementation remains inconsistent, which severely limits its potential to drive positive change. Structural challenges continue to prevent public procurement from fully supporting ethical businesses, facilitating access for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and driving sustainability, but the current review of the 2014/24 Directive has the potential to change that. Please see our full feedback in attachment. Below are the main points: Drawing from the experiences of Fair Trade Enterprises and networks across Europe, WFTO-Europe has identified several barriers hindering the effectiveness of the Directive: 1. Price-driven procurement: The continued focus on the lowest-cost criteria often undercuts ethical suppliers, thus prioritizing affordability over sustainability and fair business practices. 2. Legal uncertainty and restrictive interpretations: Narrow application of the "link to the subject matter" is problematic. 3. Uneven implementation across EU member states: Lack of mandatory enforcement means that adoption varies widely across member countries. Without a uniform approach, fair and sustainable procurement remains unreliable. 4. Complexity for public buyers: Many contracting authorities lack the expertise and capacity to navigate the wide array of sustainability labels and certifications. 5. Limited access for SMEs and social enterprises: Although Fair Trade enterprises, cooperatives, and social businesses prioritize often face structural barriers that prevent them from competing in public tenders. 6. Gaps in human and social rights considerations: The Directive does not fully align with international frameworks, e.g. the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These commitments are crucial to ensure public procurement does not contribute to labor rights violations. 7. Lack of monitoring and impact assessment: Without reporting on socially responsible public procurement (SRPP), it is difficult to measure its effectiveness and track progress. Fortunately, several steps can be taken to remedy these barriers. Evidence from cities (e.g. Gent, Copenhagen and Madrid) and regions (e.g. Emilia-Romagna and Wallonia) leading in sustainable procurement demonstrates that public authorities can play a crucial role in supporting Fair Trade and ethical supply chains. Best practices include: Shifting focus from price to ethical value by prioritizing social and environmental impact through the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) framework. Encouraging SME participation by breaking up large contracts into smaller, more accessible tenders. Strengthening the use of credible sustainability labels to ensure responsible sourcing in public contracts. Integrating sustainability from the outset by considering ethical criteria at the early planning stages of procurement. Setting measurable goals, such as increasing the procurement of Fair Trade-certified products or reducing carbon footprints. Conducting market research and consulting stakeholders to align procurement policies with sustainable business practices. Providing capacity-building support for procurement professionals and suppliers to enhance their understanding of fair and responsible procurement. Despite these promising examples, such initiatives remain isolated. To maximize the potential of public procurement in advancing fair and sustainable trade, a more coordinated and structured approach is needed. WFTO-Europe urges policymakers to strengthen regulatory frameworks, improve enforcement mechanisms, and provide the necessary guidance and support to ensure that public spending drives ethical and sustainable business practices across the EU.
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Meeting with Marit Maij (Member of the European Parliament) and Stichting Fair Trade Advocacy Office and

5 Dec 2024 · “Global Green Deal: How the EU can lead a Fair and Just Transition worldwide”

Meeting with Martin Schirdewan (Member of the European Parliament) and Climate Action Network Europe and

26 Sept 2024 · Fairer Handel

Response to Revision of EU rules on textile labelling

30 Sept 2023

On behalf of WFTO-Europe, the European branch of the World Fair Trade Organization which gathers social enterprises fully practicing Fair Trade, we submit the feedback in the document in attachment. In sum, we urge the European Commission to ensure the highest extent of transparency through this textile labelling regulation, covering a range of information. This is crucial for consumers to have adequate information to buy more responsibly in thus contribute to SDG 12 on sustainable and responsible consumption and production patterns. We emphasise, however, that consumers cannot bear the burden of creating the necessary transition alone, and that companies hold a significant responsibility to adapt their purchasing practices. Unfair and exploitative purchasing practices are most often the root cause of Human Rights violations and environmental abuse in supply chains. Consumers can only play a role in pushing companies towards more sustainable and fair practices if they have adequate and accurate information (on the right elements of the supply chain) on which to base their own purchases. Transparency is additionally key to ensure a level playing field which will strengthen the ethical, sustainable and mission-led business models that already exist and are working towards a sustainable transition of the textile and garment sector as part of their core business and modus operandi (their mission, instead of profit-maximisation). Again, we refer to the document in attachment which contains our detailed feedback, argumentation and substantiations of the points in the above summary. We thank the European Commission in advance for heeding the points as we believe them to be crucial elements for an effective regulation that will actually meet its stated goals.
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Meeting with Saskia Bricmont (Member of the European Parliament)

28 Feb 2023 · prep meeting event on due diligence (meeting with APA)

Response to Effectively banning products produced, extracted or harvested with forced labour

20 Jun 2022

WFTO-Europe warmly welcomes the initiative to launch an instrument to ban products made, extracted or harvested with forced labour. It is vital that the instrument has as its objective the eradication of forced labour. It must be designed for a long-term positive impact. It should go beyond cleaning the EU supply chains and avoid EU consumers purchasing products that involve forced labour. In this regard, an holistic framework of complementary EU policies shall be put in place. In this connection, it has to address the root causes such as poverty, unequal distribution of value throughout global value chains and asymmetrical power relations. Living wages for workers and living incomes for smallholders play a great role in addressing root causes such as poverty. On this point, the legislation should thus address the effects of purchasing practices. It should also address patterns of migration that expose workers to abusive work relationships. Remedies should be put in place in order to remediate the situations of workers. Concerning this, a mechanism adapted to and effective in different contexts should be developed by the EU and the governments from producing countries. The EU and producing countries’ governments should work on the protection of workers’ rights and human rights to prevent forced labour in supply chains, they should engage with businesses to identify risks of forced labour and frame approaches to address them, and they should consult and engage with CSOs working on human rights issues. EU delegations and Domestic Advisory Groups should be utilised to this end. Disengagement without adequate safeguards should be taken into account. It should be highlighted as a last resort measure and should be preceded by cooperation with business partners to address actual and potential risks. Any decisions in this regard should include engagement with rightsholders and their representatives in order to go through responsible disengagement. We welcome the definition of forced labour taken from the ILO definition. However, we emphasize that the following addition is needed: ‘voluntarily is not the case when an employer or recruiter makes false promises so that a worker take a job he or she would not otherwise have accepted’. The ban should also cover transportation, hence also the products “transported” with forced labour should be banned. Child labour should not be direct object of the instrument, since it would likely have short term negative impacts for families and the children. Thus, the instrument should only include forced child labour as defined by ILO. CSOs, as well as trade unions and representatives of rightsholders should have a role in providing evidence of the presence of forced labour. They should also have procedural rights during the application of the mechanism and in the decision to lift the ban. They should be consulted on their envisioned impacts, risks and needs for support to face changes introduced by this instrument. International cooperation is essential, It should be extended also to those countries that have ratified a trade agreement with trade and sustainable development obligations. The EU should engage with national authorities to address the root causes of forced labour, which are also linked to sustainable development. Small and medium enterprises should be included in the scope, particularly those from high impact sectors. However, the EU must carefully assess their situation, the impact of the instrument for them and the risks and support needed to adopt EU requirements. The burden of proof should be placed on the importers and on the companies placing those products in the EU market. In no case should it be set solely on the producing companies. Cases of state-imposed forced labour or country wide import controls should be targeted on a regional basis. The ban on state imposed forced labour products shall be placed as complement with other policies.
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Response to Social Economy Action Plan

26 Apr 2021

The World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO)-Europe is a network of European Fair Trade organizations fully practicing Fair Trade. We invite the European Commission to consider our remarks. The European Action Plan is a milestone for the Social Economy, however, to fully pursue and leverage on its potential the preconditions and aspects of the Social Economy must be included in all policies. The Social Economy Action Plan should be seen as an important piece of the puzzle depicting a socially and environmentally sustainable economy. The goal should not be to treat and support the Social Economy as a different industry but rather, with the help of policy interventions, to transform the whole economy and mainstream businesses that put people and planet before profit. Presently, misconceptions over who Social Economy Actors are and what characterises are obstructive to their development. Social Economy Actors should be defined according to the way they operate, namely that they have a mission-led governance model, which priorities social and environmental goals and follows a long-term vision. They are profitable entities but how they use their profit sets them apart. Profit is ploughed back into the business in a way that it benefits employees, the community and the environment. These practices may include creating opportunities for marginalized people or groups, limiting the disparity between the salary of the lowest and highest paid within the business, or refraining from aggressive tax planning and tax secrecy because they want to contribute to the societies in which they operate. As mentioned before the Social Economy should not be regarded as a stand-alone division, including its mission in every aspect of the economy is crucial for its success. For instance, Social Economy Actors can help the EU in achieving its Development Cooperation objectives and to contribute to the SDGs through their partnerships within the Eu and outside. The ACP-EU Agreement and Neighbourhood Development and International Cooperation Instrument 2021-2027 currently under revision has tremendous potential to foster and use the concept of the Social Economy to spark sustainable development. We fully support the listed policy aims, nevertheless, we would like to add and emphasize the following. It is essential to clarify the regulatory and institutional body of a Social Economy Actor. A clear definition of the juridical “form” of a Social Economy Actor is required. Moreover, a special focus should lay on recognizing the impact Social Economy Actors have in empowering local communities and marginalized groups, especially in the long run. Likewise, the Social Economy also needs to be strengthened in non-EU countries, e.g., via trade, investment and economic diplomacy. The access to public and private finance for Social Economy Actors must be improved and facilitated within the EU and abroad, emphasize should also be on the investment readiness of Social Economy Actors to encourage their scaling-up initiatives. The EU should support Member States, local authorities, industry players and partner governments in building suitable systems and legal frameworks. Here, we think the EU should be more proactive in setting sustainable and social standards for public procurement. The public procurement directive provides the legal base for these selection criteria in addition to an efficient use of funds. We demand that public authorities incorporate the values of the social economy as their key consideration because of the immense potential to foster local economies as well as partners outside of the EU. Most sources for the Roadmap are commissioned by the EU and/or investigate the EU-context, we recommend looking into other geographical areas’ evidence or studies conducted/funded by non-EU institutions, to better grasp the essential international dimension. Attached find our research on how the EU could support the social economy through EU external action.
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Response to EU strategy for sustainable textiles

2 Feb 2021

WFTO-Europe welcomes the roadmap on the EU strategy for sustainable textiles and its persuasion of the 2030 Agenda. Economical, environmental and social sustainability are all equally required, and they need to be addressed together within a holistic approach (https://sdgs.un.org/goals), including the textile industry. As listed in the Roadmap it is essential to address climate change, waste management and environmental impact problems. However, social aspects should not be neglected. For instance, fair payments can provide farmers with the financial capacity to switch to organic farming. Therefore, the creation of fair working conditions can positively influence environmental sustainability (https://www.fairtrade.org.uk/What-is-Fairtrade/Fairtrade-and-sustainability/). The EU emphasizes and promotes decent working conditions worldwide, hence for the global and highly labour-intensive textile industry it seems reasonable that the interventions will lay a strong focus on reassuring fair social requirements (http://www.ilo.org/global/industries-and-sectors/textiles-clothing-leather-footwear/lang--en/index.htm). The Roadmap regrets the uneven playing field currently in place due to lower environmental and social standards outside of the EU. It is of utmost importance that the EU supports initiatives and businesses who already put people and planet first and helps them to overcome and to deal with unfair trading practices. Pushing established fair and green enterprises saves resources and is especially relevant now during the COVID-19 Crisis (https://wfto.com/jointhebusinessrevolution/). Particularly marginalised workers have been largely affected by the pandemic (https://www.who.int/news/item/13-10-2020-impact-of-covid-19-on-people%27s-livelihoods-their-health-and-our-food-systems), many of whom are women. WFTO-E stresses that the planned initiative must target women empowerment since women take up a leading part in the fashion industry (https://www.fashionrevolution.org/exploitation-or-emancipation-women-workers-in-the-garment-industry/). Women are often exposed to economic vulnerability, social pressure, and violence (https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women). Gender equality is a core value of the EU addressed in the EU Gender Action Plan and should therefore also be integrated in the textile initiative. We urge the EC to keep the holistic view for the public procurement strategy in mind. The EU should be a role model in fair and green procurement to demonstrate to others that another way is possible. Partnerships should be established with best practice enterprises that live, produce and trade with mission-primacy, having environmental and social aspects at their cores. Contacting sustainable business models is a great way to find out about the day-to-day business of fair and green businesses and problematic obstacles and how to overcome them https://wfto.com/jointhebusinessrevolution/. Additionally, we support the approach to incorporate research. WFTO-E wants to explicitly highlight the mentioned Fair and Sustainable Textiles, European Civil Society Strategy for Sustainable Textiles, Garments, Leather and Footwear as a great source for relevant input (https://fairtrade-advocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Civil-Society-European-Strategy-for-Sustainable-Textiles.pdf). For the setting of targets, it must be considered that a large part of the involved stakeholders is composed by marginalised workers. Therefore, practical implication and easy access to the enforcement of the standards must be guaranteed. Lastly, WFTO-E encourages the EC to promote the global goal to reduce textile production and consumption. Concrete transparency and traceability objectives can encourage corporate responsibility and networking on a global scale, for a more inclusive and sustainable future for all. Please read our full feedback in the attachment which includes references for substantiation and know-how.
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Meeting with Diana Montero Melis (Cabinet of Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen), Renaud Savignat (Cabinet of Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen) and

22 Jan 2021 · sustainable and inclusive business models through EU external action

Response to Sustainable corporate governance

8 Oct 2020

WFTO-Europe warmly welcomes the European Commission’s focus on sustainable corporate governance and for recognising several of the issues directly related with profit-maximisation as the dominant business model of late. Indeed, WFTO-Europe believes – as is demonstrated by the efforts of our members, all mission-led businesses fully practicing Fair Trade – that addressing the governance model of companies holds the key to ensuring long-term environmental and social sustainability in Europe as well as in third countries with which the EU trades and from where EU-based companies source components, products or raw materials. We see several issues that call for clear, unambiguous regulation of corporate governance, in particular to address sustainability issues, among them in-work poverty and human rights violations directly linked to the purchasing practices of companies. In sum, we urge the Commission to promote and support (with enabling policy environments) in particular mission-led business models imbued with Fair Trade principles as the key type of sustainable corporate governance by which it is ensured that enterprises contribute actively to the UN SDG's through their core business. Moving away from profit-maximisation (the primary cause of short-termism and the ultimate driver of most human rights and environmental abuses) and towards social and environmental missions embedded into company Constitutions and by-laws is necessary to create a new economy which is good for people and planet. Please find our full feedback in attachment, including references to existing, concrete examples of what sustainable corporate governance looks like in practice and how it can be implemented. Below is a non-exhaustive summary of our feedback: - EU-wide, mandatory and binding Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) legislation is needed and must be cross-sectoral and and cover the entire supply chain(s). - Provisions must ensure that costs related with compliance are distributed fairly within the supply chain (not passed on to the primary producers, workers or artisans with little bargaining power against big retailers, buyers and processors). - The impact assessment must carefully consider thethe costs for primary producers (e.g. small-scale farmers) to adopt social and environmentally sustainable production practices, as well as the externality costs of weak or no legislation, in terms of social, environmental and human costs. - In HREDD legislation, particular attention must be paid to protecting the rights vulnerable groups of workers, producers and artisans, e.g. children, youth, migrant and seasonal workers, and especially women and girls. - Unequal power relations in supply chains is a root cause of environmental abuse and human rights violations as buyers unilaterally impose asymmetric terms and conditions on producers, suppliers and their workers. - Living wages and living incomes (in the case of farmers) must be recognised as prerequisites for the fulfilment of basic human rights. - All relevant stakeholders are involved at every step of HREDD processes, like civil society, trade unions and human rights organisations. - Members of WFTO and in particular of WFTO-Europe are ideal, concrete examples of what sustainable corporate governance looks like in practice (see references in attached feedback).
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Response to Empowering the consumer for the green transition

1 Sept 2020

The World Fair Trade Organization-Europe is formed by more than 100 members, among them Fair Trade Enterprises, Fair Trade networks and Fair Trade support organizations. We implement our Guarantee System and offer the WFTO label to assure that Fair Trade is implemented in the whole supply chain and within practices of our members, who are all mission-led social enterprises with built-in purposes for benefiting people and planet. We support a new consumer protection instrument, which would give more information on products’ sustainability. However, we emphasise that the EC must consider further characteristics besides environmental, resulting in deeper social impacts and consumer empowerment. We urge the EC to consider our resources for informing the policy-making especially around transparency: 1. Transparency Guide for SME's and ethical businesses large or small (https://traidcraftexchange.org/transparency-guide) 2. Shadow European Strategy for Sustainable Textiles signed by 60+ CSO's (https://fairtrade-advocacy.org/our-work/eu-policies/textile/) 3. The Transparency Pledge (https://transparencypledge.org/) with which companies commit to publish detailed information on their manufacturing sites. 4. The study: Creating the new economy: Business models that put people and planet first (www.wfto.com/jointhebusinessrevolution/) which explains the characteristics and benefits of mission-led businesses for people and planet. For our detailed feedback, please see the attached annex. We stand at the ready to support the EC with our existing tools and know-how to build a fairer economy with clearer, more reliable information for consumers.
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Response to Control rules in organic production

26 Aug 2020

WFTO-Europe strongly supports organic farming and encourages the European Commission to uphold strong and high quality organic regulation and certification system. However, we must stress that any articles in the proposed regulation that would merely place additional costs or significant administrative burdens on groups of operators, farmers and cooperatives, particularly in Third Countries, would be counterproductive to the Commission’s efforts – and similar efforts of Civil Society and movements like the Fair Trade movement – to incentivise organic production within and outside the EU. In particular, we urge the Commission to focus on public policies that help increase the quality and frequency of trainings in organic farming practices and organic regulation for groups of operators and their farmer members, especially in Third Countries. Such public policies should further ensure provision of technical assistance, and should in general aim at supporting small-scale farmers in particular. Foremost, however, we urge the EU to support partnerships between EU-based businesses and Third Country-based groups of operators when the former supports the latter with capacity-building for improving organic practices, with administrative matters for compliance with EU regulation, and helps invest in more sustainable and healthy farming and production patterns. Please see the attached annex for our detailed feedback on this Delegated Regulation.
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Response to Control rules in organic production

26 Aug 2020

WFTO-Europe responds with concern to several elements of the draft Commission Implementing Regulation from the European Commission on the new Organic Regulation (EU) 2018/848, which we find to be counterproductive in this regard, specifically: 1. Recital (13) and article 4. 2. Article 7(c) 3. Article 7(d) We are concerned over the significant extra costs these parts in particular would impose on groups of operators, cooperatives and farmer groups in Third Countries for upholding their organic certification for exports to the EU market. Despite the extra costs, these provisions do not promise to improve the strength and quality of the organic certification, and in general do not help improve the organic practices of farmers of such mentioned groups. Rather, we urge the Commission to focus on creating an enabling policy environment that supports the strengthening training for farmers, provides support and technical expertise. Similarly, the Commission should support – with enabling public policies, better access to finance, and other initiatives – partnerships between EU-based businesses and Third Country-based farmer groups, cooperatives, etc. where the former supports the latter with capacity-building for improving the sustainability of the farming practices and production patterns, along with other types of assistance for meeting EU regulation on organic farming. Please find our full, detailed feedback in the annex to this submission.
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Response to Climate Law

30 Apr 2020

The World Fair Trade Organization Europe warmly welcomes this proposal by the Commission for a regulation on a European climate law. It is crucial to have a legal framework on the multinational level to combat climate change. Therefore the steps taken by the European Union and third countries are essential, like the Paris Agreement or the European strategic long-term vision, “A clean planet for all”. We consider the implementation of a European climate law an important part of the European Green Deal. But we also stress that the Commission must set and enforce a target of 65% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030, as already stated in our feedback on the 2030 Climate Target Plan. If Europe shall be the first climate neutral continent by 2050 an ambitious 2030 target is needed to ensure a fair and just transition. Additionally, we urge the Commission to be aware that the kind of enactment of the law and the implementation of the measures on a European and on national levels will significantly decide about the success of such a regulation. Therefore the key points we want to highlight are three crucial steps of implementation during the process towards a climate-neutral European Union. 1. Focus on and support of SMEs (both EU-based SMEs, as well as SMEs like smallholder farmers and producer organisations in the Global South) 2. International impact and EU policy cohesion 3. Support of holistic business approaches and enhance fair trading practices Please find our full feedback with detailed explanations and working links attached.
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Response to 2030 Climate Target Plan

15 Apr 2020

WFTO-Europe welcomes the Commission’s public consultation on the 2030 Climate Target Plan, and we stress that the following must become requirements in the new regulation for setting and enforcing the 2030 climate target: 1. Ensure and enforce at least a 65% reduction of GHG emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels of the EU as a whole. 2. Support for alternative business models that prioritise people and planet over profits in order to foster the resilience of our economic system and resilience for the most vulnerable workers, producers, farmers and artisans (henceforth “producers”) within and outside the EU. 3. Support measures for conversion to organic production, preferably to agro-ecology, in particular for SMEs within and outside the EU in proportion to their needs for support to be able to cover the costs of sustainable production and still make (at least) a Living Income. Please find our detailed feedback including working links in attachment.
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Response to Minimising the risk of deforestation and forest degradation associated with products placed on the EU market

4 Mar 2020

We warmly welcome this initiative by the European Commission (EC) aiming to minimise the EU’s contribution to deforestation and forest degradation worldwide. In order to achieve this aim to the highest extent possible, the EC must introduce binding legislation related to Due Diligence on Human Rights and the Environment for companies placing products on the EU market. We propose the EC to learn from WFTO-Europe’s members and the global WFTO membership, as the EC rightly proposes upscaling of existing sustainable production practices as an effective first step of this initiative. In particular, the EC must consider alternative business models that put people and planet before profits. Businesses with a social and/or environmental mission written into their constitution and bylaws are able to uphold the highest standards and best practices for eliminating deforestation in their supply chains and still remain viable and competitive. Further, this type of business model is key for running businesses that support primary producers, farmers and workers (from hereon “producers” for brevity) of FRACs in sustainable production practices that eliminate deforestation and contribute to reforestation (including but not limited to agroforestry models, also supported in Conclusions of the Council on the Commission’s July 2019 Communication, point 20). To this end we urge the EC to introduce mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence legislation for companies placing products on the EU market. It is crucial to draft this legislation in a way that it supports the types of alternative business models mentioned above, as they have proven effective in achieving meaningful impact on social and environmental parameters (see this recent study for substantiation: https://wfto.com/article/new-report-unveils-key-insights-business-models-put-people-and-planet-first). The point of such legislation must be to change the focus towards making high social and environmental standards an integrated part of the core business of companies in a way that structures supply chains into business partnerships, where it is a core interest to conduct capacity building to strengthen producers and the sustainability of their practices. Enticing companies within this framework to ensure Living Wages for their producers is also vital in addressing deforestation, since a key root cause is poverty, especially in FRACs where the world price is generally below the breadline, like coffee and cocoa. Such capacity building also contributes to improving the production patterns and general sustainability practices in third countries, thus contributing to efforts by non-EU countries to limit deforestation and increase reforestation. This approach would simultaneously address potential social impacts, since ensuring that a fairer share of the value in the supply chain is captured by producers would prevent loss of revenue on their side, which by extension would mitigate negative effects on employment. The EC must also consider providing technical support and finance accessible to producers in third countries. This will help ensure that they have the means to improve the sustainability of their production and farming practices, even if it entails a loss in revenue in the short term (until demand in the EU adapts). Additionally, the EC must enhance the Fair and Sustainable Development chapters of EU trade agreements as recommended in the Conclusions of the Council (point 28) and enforce them. Though there is much existing legislation that the EC can rely on (as outlined in the EC's own Inception document), we urge that resources are also dedicated to researching new and innovative legislative approaches to ensure meaningful impact that has heretofore been lacking in this policy area – especially considering the immense urgency of stemming deforestation and catalysing reforestation. Please find our feedback including working links in attachment.
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