FAIR TRADE PRICE

A minimum price paid for certain agricultural products imported from developing countries. Fair trade is a movement which believes that it is unethical to pay producers in developing countries the market price if it is too low to provide a sufficient quality of living. Instead, certain importers agree to pay producers in the developing world at least a minimum price for their goods. The goods are then imported to developed nations where they are promoted as fair trade products, and normally sold at a higher price.

For goods to be labeled as Fair Trade Certified, they must comply with regulations outlined by the organization FLO-CERT and/or other local fair trade labellers. Opponents of the fair trade system argue that establishing a price floor results in oversupply. It is argued that this oversupply can actually lead to lower market prices for producers that are not able to sell to fair trade buyers.