ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses the legitimacy of fair trade as a voluntarist campaign and the capacity for it to exist within a free market system. It also addresses the challenges posed by campaigns that seek to codify and enforce fair trade principles in domestic and international law, and how the absence of voluntarism undermines fair trades legitimacy. The chapter adopts a relatively broad definition of fair trade, focusing on several distinct elements of the movement: the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations(FLO) system of product certification; activist campaigns based specifically around the issue of certified Fairtrade purchases; and broader activist campaigns focused on issues of trade justice within the international trading system as a whole. FLO manages the standards and certification of Fairtrade products, has achieved voluntary engagement through certification for producers and labelling requirements. The standards and certification process plays a particularly important role in underpinning the possibility of free choice for consumers.
