Wales Pioneers The Way To Become World's First Fair Trade Nation

With the help of dedicated volunteers from across the country, Wales has become the world's first Fair Trade Nation and is pioneering the way in helping poor developing world producers get a fair price for their products.

First Minister, Rhodri Morgan congratulated the Wales Fair Trade Forum and the many hundreds of local volunteers for their work in ensuring Wales could achieve this remarkable landmark .

"This is a great honour for Wales and shows how a small country like ours can make a difference. The progress made in two years is a testament to the enthusiasm and passion of the people of Wales," he said.

The announcement follows a two-year campaign by the Wales Fair Trade Forum, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, to increase the availability of Fair Trade products in towns, cities and counties across Wales, and encouraging schools, businesses and other organisations to switch to Fair Trade.

Fair Trade leaders from developing countries marked the occasion by starting a Fair Trade Wales flag journey. They presented Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing Jane Davidson with the flag at a Fair Trade Conference held in Newport on Saturday (7th June) to celebrate the start of its journey around Wales - the flag will visit every county in Wales over the coming months and finally arriving in Cardiff in time for St David's Day, 2009.

Ms Davidson told the summit: "I am delighted and proud that Wales can now call itself a Fair Trade Nation - which marks a significant increase in the availability and adoption of Fair Trade within organisations, communities and businesses across Wales.

"Wales has come a long way since 2006 when a number of targets were set for Wales to reach the Fair Trade Nation goal. Everybody can be proud of what has been achieved so far and look forward to building on this success in implementing the second phase of our Fair Trade Nation campaign.

"Wales is showing how a small country can take steps to bring about a big change - and in the case of Fair Trade making a huge impact on the lives of third world producers and their families.

"Today I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to the people and organisations of Wales who have helped us become the first of hopefully many Fair Trade Nations. We can now build on this success and look forward to seeing other nations joining us as Fair Trade Nations

Ian Bretman, Deputy Director of the Fairtrade Foundation applauded the Wales Fair Trade Forum: "The Fairtrade Foundation congratulates the people of Wales for all they have done to raise awareness and increase understanding of Fairtrade and the need for fairer trade systems. We wish them every success as they develop all that has been achieved to date and take their campaign forward to bring even more benefits to producers in the developing world."

Duncan Rees, Chair of the Wales Fair Trade Forum, said: "Thanks to the help of over a thousand volunteers the progress in just two years has been extraordinary! Today in Wales there are 58 Fairtrade town groups, Fairtrade groups in all 22 welsh counties, and in less than a year 380 schools have committed to learning about Fairtrade and using Fairtrade products. This is a fantastic achievement and a testament to the people of Wales."

"This has been a truly humbling experience and is all about making a real difference to the lives of some of the world's poorest people. The more countries that take up the Fair Trade Nation challenge, the more people will be able to trade their way out of poverty."

Duncan Rees explained that achieving this first phase - of making Wales a Fair Trade Nation, was just the start of the journey for the campaign.

"In order to maintain and improve Wales' position as a Fair Trade Nation - the awareness and consumption of Fair Trade by the people, organisations and businesses of Wales must continue to grow. Everyone in Wales can help us by switching to Fair Trade. As their awareness of the benefits that Fair Trade brings grows, I'm confident consumers in Wales will be happy to support this campaign and buy more products."