Comércio justo internacional: o caso do suco de laranja entre o Brasil e a França

Abstract

This paper is a preliminary analysis of the governance structure of the faire trade of orange juice between Brazil and France. Fair trade is an organizational field composed of complex organizational networks that maintain relations of mutual dependence and share the same values system. As fair trade is a subject that has received relatively little study and presents many particularities, an exploratory study was considered appropriate. Primary and secondary data were collected. In the case of the trade of orange juice between Brazil and France, two commercial networks were identified. The integrated network is constituted by professionals who specialize in fair trade, while the certified network includes more conventional commercial organizations, such as supermarkets. However, although they adopt different functioning mechanisms, in the case of orange juice the importers in the integrated network have integrated themselves into the certified network. In this way, they meet the requirements of the certified network and follow its rules for importing Brazilian orange juice. After analyzing the intrinsic characteristics of the product, the asset specificity, the frequency and the uncertainty of the transactions, the governance structure observed was the hybrid arrangement, in which long-term contracts are used to coordinate relations.