Do you as a company support fair trade?
ASDA is working with voluntary organisations (Christian Aid, The Fair-trade Foundation), the Government and other retailers as part of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). The ETI will help ensure the many benefits to co-operation between retailers are maximised. Not least the fact that we share many suppliers and therefore a common standard would help all concerned and aid faster implementation. The ETI has an agreed Code of Practice against which eventually all our suppliers will be measured using independent third party auditing. This provides reassurance to both ASDA and therefore to our customers, that what is claimed is actually taking place and real progress is being made. We have already begun the process of informing our suppliers of the code and are participating in pilot studies with the ETI. The pilots will help us develop a method of implementing the standard in the most cost effective manner and in a way that allows as many suppliers as possible to improve, rather than only working with those who currently meet the requirements. In this way the maximum number of workers will benefit, which is the ultimate aim of the programme.
http://www.asda.co.uk/corp/customer_service/FA Qs.htm
sorry i had to defend my two favourite shops!