To be fair as a city, several guidelines must be met. Especially when it comes to purchasing, a municipality can show how it can be sustainable and ecologically compatible. This means buying products that
- produced without child labor and in accordance with the core labor standards of the International Labor Organization,
- are sustainable, organic, and climate-friendly,
- have been produced in an ecologically responsible manner
- generate low transport costs and, if possible, originate from fair trade.
Fair in purchasing and contracting
As early as 2005, the Stuttgart City Council decided to no longer purchase products that originate from exploitative child labor. The administration is continuously expanding this process to include items that are ecological and fair. The Central Purchasing Department and the Service Center for Construction Contracts of the Building Construction Department call on all vendors, their subsidiaries and suppliers to comply with the core labor standards of the United Nations International Labor Organization. These require decent working conditions and adequate protection for workers.
Municipal awards also consider only sporting goods, carpets, natural stone, leather and other products and services produced without child labor. Producers and retailers must also actively work to phase out child labor.
Certificates ensure fair production
The city attaches importance to the fact that compliance with core labor standards can be proven for the respective products. Thus, the Rugmark seal is decisive for carpet purchases, the Fairtrade seal for textiles and food. Otherwise, the companies offering the products must submit a code of conduct, a social clause or a voluntary commitment, thus guaranteeing that they and also their suppliers do not offer products made with child labor.
Fair-trade coffee is served at all meetings of the municipal council. The coffee served in the cafeteria and in the town hall canteens is of fair trade and organic quality. Fair trade tea, sugar, organic lemonade and apple juice from local orchards are also on offer. In addition, the local council decided in 2017 to increase the proportion of organic food in school catering to 25 percent.
The state capital also pays attention to eco-fair and socially produced products for its own guest gifts. In this way, Stuttgart supports, among other things, a social project for disadvantaged women in the partner city of Mumbai, which provides them with training and income as well as support in coping with their everyday lives.
