Fair Trade Program present in Peru Moda

(Lima, May 2010)- Ten companies from Lima, Arequipa, Puno, Junín and Ayacucho in the "Good Practices in Fair Trade Program" - developed by CAF, PROMPERU and the Italian Consortium B&C Altromercato - took the opportunity to exhibit clothes of natural cotton and alpaca fibers, and contact foreign companies attending Peru Moda 2010, the biggest event of the Peruvian fashion industry held from April 28 to 30 in Fortaleza de Real Felipe in El Callao.

CAF director-representative in Peru Eleonora Silva Pardo said the program began in October 2009 and covered education, training and technical support for two years for implementation of good fair-trade practices in 68 companies in Lima, Arequipa, Enterprise Puno, Ayacucho and Junín, and creation of a free trade certification mark for the Peruvian textile sector.

She added this was the first experience of a multilateral financial institution and a government agency in developing methodologies and tools to implement the fair trade system in the Peruvian textile and clothing sector. The system is based on the idea that the best aid from developed to developing countries is ethical and respectful commercial relations, with sustainable growth of nations and individuals.

"This project - supported by the CAF Competitiveness Support Program and PROMPERU - is important because it will have a direct impact on SMEs in the textile sector in various regions of the country which employ 70% low-income female labor but with great potential for betterment", Silva Pardo said.

After estimating that world sales of fair trade products are currently US$1.30 billion, the CAF executive said the international customers of Europe, United States, and Asia were becoming more interested in finding companies that not only implemented best practices, but also applied them at all levels of the chain - production, logistics, sales - as well as showing respect for environmental issues and social responsibility, which is also a principle formulated by CAF.

Juan Carlos Mathews, export director of PROMPERU, said the three key points for selection of the companies which participated in Peru Moda 2010 were level of implementation of good practices in trade fair, the nature of the company applying these practices, and the effort to comply with these criteria.

The selected Peruvian companies were; Suritex, Mexthon, Eco Valley Wildlife, Anardo & Skyum, and New Expo of Lima; Sumac Maqui Artesanías and Art Atlas of Arequipa; Inversiones Textil Artesanales of Puno; Mantari Sweater of Junín; and Macedonio Palomino of Ayacucho.

According to Mathews, the fair trade niche has great potential for future development in the Peruvian textile-clothing-fashion sector. The area reserved for the exhibitors of the fair trade program was an opportunity to display their products to over 7,000 visitors, and contact representatives of leading global brands who visited the fair, where business valued at over US$70 million was concluded.

PROMPERU is a public decentralized body, attached to the Peruvian ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism-MINCETUR, responsible for promoting exports of goods and services, and promoting and publicizing the image of Peru for tourism. PROMPERU gives priority to supporting non-traditional export sectors with value added with decentralized production around the country.