Over the last 5 years or so, various initiatives
for encouraging meetings and a process of
deliberation have been developed, aiming to
link fair trade projects with other forms
of community, ethical and solidarity trade
(1). These initiatives
have served to build bridges between the main
fair trade promoters and actors and promote
a broader conceptual development of the project
for south-south fair trade.
In October 2004, as part of the National
Fair Trade Forum in Peru, a meeting of representatives
of fair, community, ethical and solidarity
trade organizations and networks (2)
took place to discuss a joint programme and
make progress towards linking up fair trade
organizations in Latin America. This meeting
gave birth to the Latin American Coordination
Table for Fair Trade (Mesa de Coordinación
Latinoamericana de Comercio Justo [MCLACJ]).
This is the body for coordinating and formulating
collective proposals working towards the development
of local and south-south fair trade.
In January 2005 at the 5th World Social Forum
in Porto Alegre, Brazil, the MCLACJ organized
a Latin American Fair Trade Meeting. During
the meeting discussions and ideas emerged
on the project for fair trade in the south,
and the MCLACJ’s objectives were presented.
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(1) In 2001, the
Latin American Meeting for Fair Trade
and Ethical Consumption (in
Spanish or
French) took place in Lima, Peru,
organized by the GRESP in coordination with
the WSES Fair Trade Workshop. In 2003, the Fair
Trade Cooperative of Chile organized the International
Seminar for Fair Trade and Local Development
(Seminario Internacional de Comercio Justo y
Desarrollo Local). In 2003 the International
Seminar for Ethical and Solidarity Trade also
took place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, organized by
FACES do Brasil.
(2) Present at
the meeting were representatives of Comercio
Justo México, FACES do Brasil, la Cooperativa
de Comercio Justo de Chile, CECI de Bolivie,
la Asociación Agropecuaria de Uila Colombia,
la Junta Nacional del Café de Perú
and Grupo Red de Economía Solidaria del
Perú. The representatives of RELACC and
Maquita Cusunchic from Ecuador communicated
their agreement with the meeting’s objectives,
despite the fact that they could not be present.
