Fair and Ethical Trade

Promoting Fair and Ethical Trade

International Labour Standards
As a member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Government fully supports internationally agreed core labour standards and has obligations and responsibilities to promote all aspects of human rights as they relate to work and employment.

The Government's policy is for public procurers to assess the relevance of ILO labour issues to their individual procurements, and where these issues are assessed as either relevant to the subject matter of the contract or where they relate to the performance of the contract, this should be reflected as appropriate in the procurement process.

Fair Trade:
Government is committed to substantially improving market access for producers in developing countries and promoting growth and trade through increased participation of developing country producers in fair and sustainable retail supply chains. 

In addition to direct funding of fair and ethical trade intitiatives, there is an opportunity for Government to support fair trade through public procurement.  This is outlined in the Govnerment's policy on the procurement of fair trade products.

• Our Policy on Fair Trade (PDF 85KB)

OGC has produced guidance for departments on how they can buy fair trade products in a way that is consistent with value for money policy and the EU Procurement Directives and UK Regulations.

• Guidance on Fair Trade and Public Procurement (PDF, 263KB)

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