Development of fair trade in the German-speaking area
The development of fair trade in German-speaking countries deals with the history of fair trade mainly within Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
Beginnings
At the end of the 1960s, young people from the Hildesheim district formed the Ecumenical Working Group on Development Aid (later El Puente ). They dealt with the north-south problem , collected aid supplies and donations and began selling goods imported directly from Latin America.
In the early 1970s, subsidiaries of the Dutch fair trade organization SOS were founded in the Federal Republic of Germany , Austria and Switzerland . In Switzerland, in the 1970s, the women of bananas in Frauenfeld and the organization in Berne , in particular, drew attention to the problems of the global economy. The trade and information organization OS3 Organization Switzerland 3rd World (today: claro fair trade ) emerged from the activities of the Bern Declaration . In the autumn of 1970, Aktion Third World Trade (A3WH) was founded by the youth associations of the Protestant and Catholic Churches, the Association of Protestant Youth (aej) and the Association of German Catholic Youth (BDKJ). The A3WH relates their goods on the Dutch SOS and informed about the problems of the Third World.
More and more Third World groups, such as El Puente or Aktion Third World Trade, were offering products from fair trade; the first third world stores also opened in Germany. In June 1972 El Puente - Association for Employment and Social Promotion in Developing Countries e. V. founded, which was to become one of the largest German import organizations. In 1973, the Association for Trade with the Third World was founded as a German subsidiary of the SOS Foundation , the forerunner of Gepa - The Fair Trade Company (until February 2007 still gepa Fair trading house ). In 1975, the Third World Stores Association (AG3WL) was established in Frankfurt am Main . This year there were ten world shops in the Federal Republic of Germany. In 1978 the opening event for the Jute instead of plastic campaign took place in Hamburg . At that time there were already a hundred world shops in Germany. At the end of the 1970s, the subsidiary organizations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland became independent.
The alternative import organizations El Puente and Third World Partner Ravensburg (today: WeltPartner eG ) (as well as an associated member afrassca ) tried to work together from 1989 by offering each other's products in their own sales. In 1990 there were around 300 world shops and around 3,000 action groups in Germany.
First half of the 1990s
In February 1991 the AG3WL general meeting in Wiesbaden debated the GEPA plans to expand into the food retail sector. The majority decided to work constructively on expanding trade. In June, the number of German world shops rose to over 500. Since then there have also been around 5,000 fair trade action groups. The AG Kleinbauernkaffee e. V. founded. GEPA acts in an advisory capacity in the AG. At EFTA , a seal of quality for fair trade is being prepared with the help of GEPA and claro fair trade .
There are around 650 world shops and around 6,000 fair trade action groups in the Federal Republic of Germany. In 1992, Swiss aid organizations established the Max Havelaar Foundation , which has been certifying fair trade products ever since. In mid-1992, TransFair already had 22 member organizations. The Banana I Forum took place in October 1993 . In November of the same year, TransFair had 30 member organizations. New members were the terre des hommes children's aid organization, the Catholic workers' movement (KAB) and the Evang. Women's work in Germany e. V. In the whole of 1993, 3,600 t of green coffee (0.6% of total green coffee imports in Germany) were imported on TransFair terms. From January 20 to 22, 1995, the Banana II Forum near Hildesheim was held, the kick-off event for the German banana campaign. In the first year of the introduction of black tea on TransFair terms, 400 tons of tea are imported. This meant a market share of 2.5%.
In November 1992, after five years of cooperation, the solidarity ring for decentralized import structures between El Puente and Third World partner Ravensburg (and afrassca) broke up.
As early as April and May 1993, around 20,000 German shops were selling coffee with the TransFair seal. Under the slogan World Shops - A Piece of Tomorrow's World, AG3WL and rsk started a profile campaign in favor of world shops in the spring of 1994. In December 1994 the Fair Trade e. V. - Association for the Promotion of Justice in World Trade, Wuppertal, founded.
Second half of the 1990s
From June 14th to 16th, 1996 the first Fair Trade Congress Sharing the Future - Just Trade (n) was held in Cologne . On June 20, 1996, the Working Group Third World Shops (AG3WL) and various world shops criticized GEPA's restructuring plans. In September 1996 honey was introduced with the Transfair seal. In October 1996 the AG3WL, to which 130 world shops are affiliated, published its convention of world shops - criteria for alternative trade . On October 19, 1996, the first strategy seminar of the campaign for “clean” clothing ( Clean Clothes Campaign , CCC for short ) was held in Bad Kreuznach . The number of employees in the import organization was 13 full-time and two part-time. Also in October 1997, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e. V. (KAS) member of TransFair .
On February 28, 1998, the first youth creative and fair trade sponsorship prize of the aej and the BDKJ was awarded in Cologne . In March 1998, the first fair trade soccer balls were sold. On March 7, 1998, the campaign for “clean” clothing started the appeal to the clothing trade . The Banane V Forum took place in Würzburg from March 13th to 15th, 1998 . In April 1998 bananas with the Transfair seal were introduced. In May 1998, Transfair already had 39 member organizations. From May 10th to 29th, 1998, the Global March - On the Road for Children's Rights on the way to the ILO Conference in Geneva - passed through Germany. From June 19 to 21, 1998, the second Fair Trade Congress was held in Wuppertal with 200 participants. The yellow card postcard campaign for adidas started in summer 1998 ! the campaign for “clean” clothes . In July 1998, the import organization third world partner Ravensburg celebrated its tenth anniversary. On October 30 and 31, 1998, the third strategy seminar of the campaign for “clean” clothing took place in Hattingen .
On 22./23. January 1999 saw the nationwide day of campaign for “clean” clothing . The signatures were handed over to representatives of the large clothing and sporting goods companies with the appeal to the clothing trade . On February 24, 1999, a rush campaign for “clean” clothes was launched. The tenor was: adidas inactive despite promises . In May 1999 orange juice with the Transfair seal came onto the market.
21st century
In September 2001 the first fair week nationwide took place in Germany , which was organized by TransFair. On December 17, 2002, the service point for municipalities in one world was founded, which was the first time in the world that a service facility was created that was a project of the federal government, the federal states and various other organizations. One of the main tasks is to establish and strengthen fair trade in municipalities (administration, politics, non-governmental organizations). To this end, the service point for municipalities in one world introduced the biennial nationwide competition Capital of Fair Trade in 2003 .
In September 2003 an extended action alliance realized the second nationwide Fair Week in Germany. The information campaign fair feels good started in October 2003 .
The German federal government at the time supported the development of fair trade with an additional 6.5 million euros. The campaign ran until December 2005. Also in October 2003, the South African organization Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA) certified tourism companies according to fair trade criteria for the first time.
In March 2004, the fair trade banana achieved a considerable value on the Swiss market with a market share of 25 percent. The 4th European World Shop Day under the motto Justice Now (topics: dumping , raw material prices , market access ) was celebrated on May 8, 2004, in Germany this was cooperated by the World Shop umbrella organization. The third nationwide Fair Week took place from September 20 to 26, 2004 under the patronage of the Federal Minister for Development Aid Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul .
In May 2005, Gepa - The Fair Trade Company (then still gepa Fair Handelshaus ) celebrated its 30th anniversary in Wuppertal. The fourth Fair Week took place from September 19 to 25, 2005 .
Since 2009, the title of Fair Trade City has been awarded to cities that are particularly committed to fair trade and that have also confirmed this through political decisions.
The discounter Lidl and TransFair agreed on March 30, 2006 in a cooperation agreement on a cooperation in the sale of fair trade products.
In 2013, sales of fair trade products in Germany were 650 million euros. That is 23 percent more than in 2012. In 2014, too, there was double-digit growth. This makes Germany the second largest sales market after Great Britain. There are 2,800 fair trade products in organic quality. The organic share rose from two thirds to three quarters in 2014.
literature
- Ruben Quaas: Fair Trade. A global-local history using the example of coffee , Cologne / Weimar / Vienna: Böhlau-Verlag 2015, 432 pp. ISBN 978-3-412-22513-1 ( table of contents, PDF ) Detailed study of the history of fair trade, a. a. Awarded the Prize of the Zeitschrift für Weltgeschichte 2015 and was on the shortlist for the Opus Primum sponsorship award from the Volkswagen Foundation .
- Markus Raschke: Fair trade. Commitment to a just global economy, Ostfildern: Matthias-Grünewald-Verlag 2009, 536 pp. ISBN 978-3-7867-2764-4 ( table of contents, PDF ) The author offers a detailed historical presentation of the German fair trade movement.
- Konrad J. Kuhn: Fair Trade and the Cold War: Self-Perception and Positioning of the Fair Trade Movement in Switzerland 1973–1990 . Bern: Edition Soziothek 2005, 128 pp. ISBN 978-3-03796-085-1 .