FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT CAMPAIGN

That this House welcomes Fairtrade Fortnight from 25th February to 9th March 2008; congratulates progress made by the Fairtrade Foundation in the UK with sales of Fairtrade products reaching £284 million in 2006; notes that the UK is the most dynamic Fairtrade market with average annual growth of 40 per cent. and on current trends sales will exceed £547 million by 2011; welcomes the Fairtrade Foundation's Fairtrade Schools Scheme which aims to ensure that children are educated on fair trade and development issues; notes Fairtrade's target of securing 2,000 primary and 500 secondary Fairtrade Schools by 2009 and urges all schools to sign up to the scheme; supports fair trade as an established way for developing communities to trade their way out of poverty; and further supports the recommendation of the International Development Committee that the Government encourages and funds proposals for the expansion of fair trade.