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 Garstang, the world's first Fair Trade Town - April 2000

Garstang, the world's first Fair Trade Town - April 2000

After almost a decade of campaigning on Fair Trade and other international development issues the local Oxfam Group in Garstang, UK had an idea. They invited all the key community players; the mayor, heads of schools, faith group leaders and business owners to a meal and asked them to sign a pledge to buy and use Fair Trade and local produce. With the mayor, all the schools and faith groups and eventually 95% of all businesses signing the pledge the people of Garstang declared their town the world's first Fair Trade Town at a Public Meeting in April 2000. George Foulkes MP, former Under Secretary of State later said: “The beacon that has started in Garstang can spread like wildfire through the whole country and beyond.” Nobody at the time could have predicted how prophetic those words would prove to be.

Welcome to the home of the international Fair Trade Town movement. Communities across the world are working to promote Fair Trade in their area, in order to enable more farmers and workers to get a better deal. In the process many communities are meeting goals to become recognised as a Fair Trade Town. Here, you can become involved and share resources and top tips from over 2 000 Fair Trade Town campaigns in 30 countries across the globe.


National FT Town Campaigns - 2 000 Fair Trade Towns in 30 countries

Country Initiative Number of FT Towns 1st Fair Trade Town Website
UK Fairtrade Towns 203 Garstang (April 2000) website  
The Republic of Ireland Fairtrade Towns 48 Clonakilty (September 2003) website  
Belgium (Flanders) FairTradeGemeente 195 Ghent (July 2005) website  
Belgium (Wallonia + Brussels) Communes du commerce équitable* 61 Bruxelles-Ville (July 2006) website  
Italy Città Equosolidali 10 Padova website  
Sweden Fairtrade City 35 Malmö (May 2006) website  
Australia Fair Trade Communities 8 Yarra, Melbourne (May 2006) website  
USA Fair Trade Towns USA 47 Media, Pennsylvania (July 2006) website  
Norway Fairtrade-Kommune 20 Sauda (August 2006) website  
Canada Fair Trade Towns 16 Wolfville, Nova Scotia (April 2007) website  
Austria FAIRTRADE-Gemeinden 226 Wieden, Wr. Neustadt, Mönichkirchen (May 2007) website  
Spain Ciudad por el Comercio Justo 23 Cordoba (April 2008) website  
Finland Reilun kaupan kaupunki 15 Tampere (August 2009) website  
Denmark Fair Trade Cities 1 Odense (October 2010) website  
Brazil Cidade de Comercio Justo - Fair Trade City 4 Poços de Caldas (2012) website  
The Netherlands Fairtrade Gemeente 66 Groningen/Goes (March 2009) website  
Germany Kampagne Fairtrade Towns 887 Saarbrücken (April 2009) website  
Costa Rica Latin American Fair Trade Towns 2 Pérez Zeledón (October 2009) website  
New Zealand Fair Trade Communities NZ 4 Wellington & Dunedin (November 2009) website  
Luxembourg Fairtrade Gemeng 38 Differdange (March 2011) website  
Japan Fair Trade Towns 6 Kumamoto (June 2011) website  
Ghana Fair Trade Towns 2 New Koforidua (June 2011)
Czech Republic Fairtradová města 14 Litomerice/Vsetin (September 2011) website  
Poland Spolecznosci Przyjazne dla Sprawiedliwego Handlu 3 Poznan (November 2012) website  
Lebanon Fair Trade Towns 10 Menjez (May 2013) website  
Estonia Fairtrade Towns 1 Hiiu District (November 2014)
France Territoires de Commerce Equitable 30 Paris, Lyon + 12 others (November 2009) website  
Switzerland Fair Trade Towns 22 Glarus Nord (February 2016) website  
Cameroon Territoire de Commerce Equitable 2 Ebolowa (November 2015)
Equador Ciudades y Pueblos Por El Comercio Justo 1 Riobamba (October 2016) website  
South Korea Korea Fair Trade Towns 17 Bucheon, Incheon website  
Chile Ciudades y Pueblos Por El Comercio Justo website  
Honduras Ciudades y Pueblos Por El Comercio Justo 1 Marcala website  
Paraguay Ciudades y Pueblos Por El Comercio Justo 1 Arroyos y Esteros (May 2018) website  
India Fair Trade Towns India 6 Pondicherry& Auroville twin FTT (August 2017) website  
Taiwan Fair Trade City Campaign 1 Taipei (April 2018) website  
Columbia Ciudades y Pueblos Latinoamericanos por el Comercio Justo 1 Tibasosa (May 2018)
Republic of South Africa Fair Trade Towns 1 Drakenstein (10.12.2020, self declaration) website  
Turkey Izmir Fair Trade Town 1 Izmir - self declaration (September 2022)
Country Initiative National Coordinator Website
UK Fairtrade Towns Sarah Brezier website  
The Republic of Ireland Fairtrade Towns Lucy Geraty website  
Belgium (Flanders) FairTradeGemeente Bianca De Wolf website  
Belgium (Wallonia + Brussels) Communes du commerce équitable* Caroline Laroye website  
Italy Città Equosolidali Gaga Pignatelli website  
Sweden Fairtrade City Anneli Örtqvist & Stina Hedberg website  
Australia Fair Trade Communities website  
USA Fair Trade Towns USA Billy Linstead Goldsmith website  
Norway Fairtrade-Kommune Kristin OIshi website  
Canada Fair Trade Towns Loïc de Fabritus Gautier website  
Austria FAIRTRADE-Gemeinden Teresa Elser website  
Spain Ciudad por el Comercio Justo Marta Mangrane website  
Finland Reilun kaupan kaupunki Jatta Makkula website  
Denmark Fair Trade Cities Katrine Grytter website  
Brazil Cidade de Comercio Justo - Fair Trade City Paola Silva Figueiredo website  
The Netherlands Fairtrade Gemeente Karin van Breda website  
Germany Kampagne Fairtrade Towns Simone Zorn website  
Costa Rica Latin American Fair Trade Towns María Angela Zamora Chaves website  
New Zealand Fair Trade Communities NZ website  
Luxembourg Fairtrade Gemeng Valerie Murat website  
Japan Fair Trade Towns Mr.Takashi KOBUKI website  
Ghana Fair Trade Towns Nicholas Apokerah
Czech Republic Fairtradová města Lenka Dvořáková website  
Poland Spolecznosci Przyjazne dla Sprawiedliwego Handlu Tadeusz Makulski website  
Lebanon Fair Trade Towns Benoit Berger website  
Estonia Fairtrade Towns
France Territoires de Commerce Equitable Julie Maisonhaute website  
Switzerland Fair Trade Towns Catherine Wälti & Anja Imobersteg website  
Cameroon Territoire de Commerce Equitable Jérôme Olivier, Onguene Ntonga
Equador Ciudades y Pueblos Por El Comercio Justo Sagrario Angulo, Humberto Llangari, Angel Gutierrez (SPP) - Linda Vera (CLAC) - Zulma Britez WFTOLA website  
South Korea Korea Fair Trade Towns Miok Lee website  
Chile Ciudades y Pueblos Por El Comercio Justo Lorena Vergar y Raúl Navarrete website  
Honduras Ciudades y Pueblos Por El Comercio Justo Mirian Perez website  
Paraguay Ciudades y Pueblos Por El Comercio Justo Teresa Alejandra Pereira Prieto website  
India Fair Trade Towns India Anjali Shivana website  
Taiwan Fair Trade City Campaign Karen Yu - Fairtrade Taiwan Association website  
Columbia Ciudades y Pueblos Latinoamericanos por el Comercio Justo Olga Parra Benavides - Margarita Rodriguez
Republic of South Africa Fair Trade Towns Ms Thembi Mnisi website  
Turkey Izmir Fair Trade Town