The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Trade (DG Trade) has chosen the International Trade Centre (ITC) to develop the concept for and implement the “EU Cities for Fair and Ethical Trade Award”.
ITC is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations, which assists small and medium-sized enterprises in developing and transition economies to become more competitive in global markets.
The Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD) Programme is leading the implementation of the Award. The programme has developed an unrivalled global repository of information on voluntary sustainability standards over the past nine years (www.sustainabilitymap.org) and its work is based on the principles of neutrality, transparency and cooperation.
In order to develop a sound and impactful award concept, ITC convened a Technical Committee of around 40 members from the fields of sustainability, trade or city networks. In collaboration with ITC and DG Trade, this multidisciplinary group created the concept and specifications for the first Award. Based on learnings from the first award cycle and feedback from stakeholders, some adjustments were made for the second Award cycle.