It was 3 March 2016 when the Chamber of Deputies approved, with 282 votes in favour and just 4 against, proposed law 2272 Disposizioni per la promozione e la disciplina del commercio equo e solidale. A vote welcomed with enthusiasm by those who believe in international trade built on cooperation and respect for producers in the Global South. Unfortunately, eight months on, the bill has been sitting in a drawer, waiting for its examination to be placed on the Senate's agenda.

A definition and tools to promote fair trade

The proposed law bears the signatures of Ermete Realacci, Simonetta Rubinato, Pier Paolo Baretta and Marco Da Villa, and has been backed by Equo Garantito, the trade association representing Italian fair trade organisations, Fairtrade Italia and the Associazione Botteghe del Mondo. The text — comprising seventeen articles in total — first and foremost provides an official definition of fair trade, specifying the role of the various actors in the supply chain. It also enshrines in law, should it be definitively approved, the principles underpinning certifications — in particular the "fair price" paid to the producer, one sufficient to allow the payment of a decent wage to workers while also enabling investment in improving product and process quality and in reducing environmental impact. To protect the values of fair trade and consumers from potential abuses, the law establishes a national register of fair trade organisations, managed by an ad hoc committee at the Ministry of Economic Development. The law likewise provides for an active role for the State in promoting fair trade, particularly in canteens and catering services of public administrations. A fund for fair trade is established with an endowment of 1 million euros per year.

Fair trade already recognised at the local level

Proposed law 2272, whose parliamentary process began in 2014, is merely the latest in a long series of attempts to give fair trade a legal framework in Italy. The first proposed law on the subject dates back 10 years, to October 2006, introduced by the Associazione interparlamentare per il commercio equo promoted by Ermete Realacci. Faced with Parliament's inaction, however, many local authorities decided in the intervening years to take the initiative and legislate at a local level. One example is the Tuscany region, a pioneer in this field with a regional fair trade law in force since 2005. In the years that followed, around ten regions, from Trentino to Puglia, and an equal number of municipalities followed suit.

Fair trade in Italy

Every Italian spends an average of one euro and fifty cents a year on fair trade products. Very little indeed. Within Europe, Italy ranks above only Spain and the Czech Republic in fair trade per capita spending — far behind the podium occupied by Switzerland (58 euros), Ireland (50 euros) and the United Kingdom (38 euros). One consolation: the Italian market continues to grow year on year. Fairtrade, the world's leading fair trade certification label — the one with the small black figure on a green and blue background — recorded 99 million euros in sales in Italy in 2015. This represents growth of 10 per cent for the 145 Fairtrade-certified companies that market, primarily through large-scale retail, around 700 different products, from bananas (10,000 tonnes in 2015, 50 per cent of total volume) to coffee and cotton.