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OUR TRADING POLICY
Long Term, Balanced Partnerships with Producers WONDERWORLD maintains long term relationships with its producer partners to ensure: quality control; order fulfillment on schedule; a stable environment for re-investment in the business and continuous improvements in the fairness of our trade practises. Information is exchanged for mutual benefit . Producers' autonomy is encouraged & supported. Fair Prices WONDERWORLD provides producers with rates, remuneration's and benefits which meet their essential human needs and are, in most cases, above average in the context of specific industries and localities. Our producers receive advance payments to enable them to work without recourse to external borrowing which can be highly problematic. Re-investment WONDERWORLD re-invests profits in the future of our business - including product development & producer requests for improved facilities and other benefits. Independent Trading Practise Audits We will accept & encourage our suppliers to accept credible in-country consultants to examine our conduct of business with regard to our trading policy commitments & the expectations of our target markets, in the context of specific industries & localities. WONDERWORLD will publish their reports & recommendations. Transparency/Access WONDERWORLD business records will be open to reasonable scrutiny for the purpose of external agencies evaluating our trade practises (subject to assurance on proper commercial confidentiality.) Similarly WONDERWORLD will identify its suppliers for the purpose of external agencies making invigilation visits. Conduct a Professional Business WONDERWORLD will conduct a sound business that can be sustained in the long term, delivering stable benefits to all, with emphasis on:
Support & Participation in Fair Trade Movement WONDERWORLD will actively participate in the development of the fair trade movement both locally and nationally. We will promote serious debate about how fair trade ideals and good business can be combined. WONDERWORLD aims to be a model for other privately run, small scale businesses in regards of fair trade practise Campaigning WONDERWORLD will ally itself to campaigns for justice in international economic relations between rich and poor countries. Our Employees, Our Community, Ourselves We recognise our responsibilities in respect of the people we employ and ourselves to make work enjoyable, worthwhile and sustainable in the long term. We recognise our responsibilities to the communities in which we operate. Our Environment WONDERWORLD promotes environmentally friendly products utilising natural, sustainable materials and methods wherever possible. Footnotes Discriminating WONDERWORLD Products WONDERWORLD products represent a range of connections with fair trade and ethical trade values depending on the quality of our relationship with producers, their willingness & ability to provide us with relevant information and other factors. We think most of the products we sell can be presented as fairly traded or ethically traded. However we are aware of a variety of definitions of these phrases, both in theory & in practice. Therefore we offer details of the fair trade & ethical trade criteria that we think each of our products fulfill in an on-line document titled the WONDERWORLD Fair Trade/Ethical Trade Matrix. Each WONDERWORLD product is cross referenced with an extensive list of criteria. We hope that professionals & activists can use this list to think through their own understanding of the issues and decide for themselves whether our products can be presented as fair trade, ethical trade or otherwise. The system is under development and would benefit from feedback. It should be seen in the context of our overall agenda for the fair trade movement as represented in our Fair Trade Blog. The Matrix can be accessed by clicking the Stock List on the menu to the left of this page. Is WONDERWORLD a 'Fair Trade' company? WONDERWORLD is often asked 'are you fair trade?'. Faced with this question we always ask what the questioner means by 'fair trade'. Some will give a definition of 'fair trade' including
Poverty reduction is a clear consequence of WONDERWORLD trading but not the prime aim. In that sense we are not a 'fair trade' business. Equally none of the businesses we work with are worker controlled in any significant way. In that sense also we are not a 'fair trade' business. Most people who ask us if we are 'fair trade' will give a definition including
On these points WONDERWORLD complies with 'fair trade' definitions. Certain organisations have developed the brand label Fairtrade. WONDERWORLD does not conform to that particular model of fair trade. We believe that WONDERWORLD has a full role to play in fair trade and offers concrete practise in the areas outlined. However we readily acknowledge that our approach is not universally recognised as fair trade. We undertake to engage with our customers in order to explain the issues even-handedly so that they can think the problems through for themselves and take a well informed view as to whether or not WONDERWORLD is fair trade. Prompt Payments In order to maintain a healthy business and a steady flow of work for our producers - WONDERWORLD expects to be paid in accordance with terms and conditions agreed.
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