BUSINESS ETHICS AND THE FAIR AND ETHICAL TRADE MOVEMENTS

摘要

Fair Trade can be broadly defined as a mechanism of international exchange that consciously seeks to improve the livelihood prospects of small producers in developing countries through the guarantee of a fair (above market) price for their products. Ethical Trade is a movement (often refereed to as the "no sweat" movement) that seeks to ensure that workers in developing countries (especially those involved in the manufacture of goods for northern markets) are guaranteed living wages and fair working conditions. Both the Fair and Ethical Trade movements have seen tremendous growth over the last decade. As movements, Fair and Ethical Trade arguably have many characteristics in common with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and could be conceived as potentially integral components of CSR. Many advocates of Fair Trade, however, resist such interpretations and see movements in this direction as co-opting what they believe to be the basis for an alternative business and trading system. The general purpose of this special issue is to examine the ethical issues involved in the Fair and Ethical Trade movements. The examination of such ethical issues may involve analysis of the roles, practices and interrelationships of several sets of actors, including conventional firms, alternative business firms, fair and ethical trade labelling bodies, consumers and different levels of government.