The Public Affairs office of the European Fair Trade Association (EFTA) is inviting interested organizations to attend the Fair Trade Public Procurement Conference in Dortmund, Germany on 24 September.  This conference will tackle how Fair Trade procurement can help public authorities to support sustainable development initiatives.

Experts and stakeholders in Fair Trade from all over Europe will meet during this event to discuss on fair procurement and the latest development on this issue. There will be parallel workshops on various themes, such as food for catering and canteens, textiles for clothing and uniforms, and specific legal issues.  Tailored activities will be dedicated to interested organizations coming from EU member states where Fair Trade awareness is low to help them mobilise their respective local authorities in favour of Fair Trade purchasing.

This conference will take place during the German Fair Trade Week at the
FA!R 2010 (23 to 25 September in Westfalenhallen Dortmund), a Fair Trade fair with more than 80 exhibitors and 3,000 visitors are expected.  More information on this event can be found on the fair’s website www.fair2010.de.     

Details of the conference can be downloaded here; and the registration form here. If you have questions and other queries please contact EFTA’s Public Affairs Office at Esta dirección de correo electrónico está protegida contra los robots de spam, necesita tener Javascript activado para poder verla .

This event is supported by the following partners:  EFTA, CTM Altromercato, Oxfam Wereldwinkels, IDEAS Comercio Justo, ICLEI Local Government for Sustainability, FA!R 2010, and Eine Welt Netz NRW, that coalesced and formed a platform called the European Observatory on Fair Trade Public Procurement.  The goal is to bring those interested in Fair Trade Public Procurement and to analyse laws on Public Procurement in Europe.  Visit the website to learn more on public procurement http://www.eftafairtrade.org/observatory/index.php/fair-procura-2010.