As co-operators, fair trade is in our DNA. From campaigns against slave-produced sugar in the 19th century, to becoming the UK’s earliest (and still one of the largest) retailers of Fairtrade products like coffee and sugar, we know that the choices we make as consumers can change lives.

This Fairtrade Fortnight, we’re launching a campaign to ensure that the work we’ve done to Make Trade Fair is protected and strengthened in the trade deals Britain makes after leaving the EU.

Over the next few years, Britain’s trading relationship with the World will fundamentally change.

As we leave the EU, new trade deals will need to be negotiated, and rules re-written.

For more than two decades, our movement has campaigned to Make Trade Fair. As this happens, it’s vital that we safeguard all we’ve achieved.

Help us ensure that our new trading relationship with the world doesn’t come at the expense of people in the world’s poorest countries.

 Join us on calling on International Trade Secretary Liam Fox to

• Put in place trade rules that allow the poorest countries to import their produce into the UK tariff-free, without forcing them to do the same for ours.
• Make it easier for farmers in developing countries to process and package their produce themselves, increasing the value of their exports
• Guarantee that new trade deals will incorporate existing commitments and standards on the environment, human rights, and Sustainable Development Goals.
• Increase transparency by giving Parliament the right to scrutinise the final terms of new trade deals as they are negotiated

As a member or officer, it’s your hard work that will ensure our campaign reaches far and wide, and that year’s Fairtrade Fortnight is a success.

Here are some ideas of things you can do to help:

Get your Constituency Labour Party (CLP) to pass a motion supporting the campaign

Passing a motion is a great way to raise wider awareness of an issue among those outside of your immediate Co-operative Party branch. You can download and print a template motion below, which contains some example language you may wish to include. If you’re a councillor, this template could also be used as the basis for a motion to be passed in council.

Ask local Labour members to sign the petition

Download and print the sign-up sheet below to help collect names for the petition the Co-operative Party is running on this issue. A petition is a great way to start conversations with people locally who aren’t currently involved in the Co-operative Party, and helps the Party grow its list of supporters who we can mobilise as future members and campaigners.