The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) has launched a five-principles agenda for companies to use in promoting justice through their trading relationships.
The ETI, an alliance of companies, non-governmental organisations and trade unions, has also launched an ethical trading training programme, developed with the Co-operative College, which has been tested with Marks & Spencer staff.
ETI director Dan Rees said that UK businesses had a role in helping to give the poor the benefits of free trade. "But lasting improvements can only be achieved if companies start putting ethical trade at the heart of their business activities and stop seeing it as an optional add-on," he said.
ETI highlighted Premier Foods as a good example of a company conforming to one of the main principles, for its consultations with trades unions at all levels.
It also praised Tesco for its half-day training course to raise awareness among its buyers of the issues and of Tesco's ethical trade programme.
The five ETI principles are: putting workers centre stage; making sure business practices support ethical sourcing principles; getting smarter at auditing; making codes work for suppliers; and collaboration.
The new ETI agenda was launched on Monday (October 31), two days before a protest for trade justice as opposed to free trade was scheduled to be held outside the House of Commons by the Trade Justice Movement and the Make History Poverty Campaign.
Meanwhile, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has called for consumers and supermarkets to buy fish from sustainable sources and has published lists of "fish to eat" and "fish to avoid". Skate, ray, Atlantic halibut and warm-water prawns trawled in the wild are among the species from unsustainable fisheries on sale in the UK, said the MCS.
The seafood buyer Young's Bluecrest has launched an updated policy on its sourcing of warm-water shrimp. The policy covers standards of aquaculture, which govern relationships with suppliers, including environmental and socio-economic management, animal welfare and food safety standards. The policy suggests an industry benchmark for best practice. Young's buys 60 species of seafood from 33 countries.