Marks & Spencer - currently the biggest retailer of Fairtrade cotton on the high street has a new collection of t-shirts made from Fairtrade certified cotton currently in store for Autumn/Winter 07. M&S total usage of Fairtrade cotton currently accounts for around one third of the world’s supply and now represents 10% of all M&S cotton. M&S aims to convert almost 20 million garments to Fairtrade cotton over the next 12 months and the new women’s t-shirts mark a significant development in reaching this target.

Thousands of Fairtrade cotton farmers in Senegal, Cameroon, Mali and Burkina Faso providing cotton for the women's t-shirts will benefit from the guaranteed Fairtrade price and premium. The cotton farmers are using the Fairtrade premium to invest in much-needed social projects such as the development of a new school, a health centre, a nursery and a literacy programme. M&S is helping to develop the market further by bringing even more farmers into the Fairtrade system.

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NB.
The Fairtrade Foundation is the independent certification body in the UK that awards the FAIRTRADE Mark to products which meet internationally agreed Fairtrade standards. For producer organisations, these include a democratic and participative structure to ensure that Fairtrade premiums are used to improve social conditions for farmers, workers and their wider community, or to strengthen their businesses for the future.

For further information, please contact:
Michele Cooper 020 8718 8515

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