What Are Fairtrade Goods?
The Fairtrade Foundation is an autonomous non-profit body. It is the UK member of Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO), an association which brings together twenty-one fair trade labelling initiatives in Europe, North America, Australia and Japan, apart from producer organisations from Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Beside the Fairtrade Foundation, there are a number of organisations in the UK like The British Association for Fair Trade Shops (BAFTS) and Ethical Consumer which share the common goal of building of greater justice and equity in international trade. But the Fairtrade Foundation is the most significant due to the widespread acceptance of the FAIRTRADE mark on products.
The FAIRTRADE mark
The FAIRTRADE Mark you see here is the UK version of FLO’s international certification label (an EU registered trademark), adopted by FLO International in 2002. According to the Fairtrade Foundation, it can be interpreted in many ways, but the popular interpretation is to imagine it as a person holding aloft an arm (the black circle being the head) against the backdrop of blue sky and green grass.
There are strict rules for how the FAIRTRADE Mark can be used – both for product packaging and campaigning. The Fairtrade Foundation uses the trademark to certify only those products that meet international Fairtrade standards. It may also be used on promotional material to encourage the public to buy Fairtrade products. FLO International lays down the standards, while its autonomous subsidiary, FLO-CERT Gmbh, looks after inspection and certification of producers and traders against Fairtrade standards.
FAIRTRADE certification
In order to be FAIRTRADE certified, not only the producers but all the traders in the supply chain have to register with and report to FLO-CERT. Its trade audits and inspections are carried out on-site by reputed and independent professional auditors. Fairtrade Foundation’s certification committee reviews the audit reports and follows up wherever necessary.
A product has to meet international Fairtrade standards set by FLO to be able to use the Fairtrade mark. These standards may be both generic and product specific. Generic standards are in place for two categories of producers – small farmers’ organisations and farms/companies using hired labour. Generic standards are applicable to 129 developing nations, and Fairtrade certified producers exist in 59 of these nations at present. The producers are also required to fulfill product specific standards, including additional socio-economic and environmental criteria like empowerment of women in the community.
There are also a very important set of terms of trade for traders buying Fairtrade certified products, ensuring the payment of a price that at least covers the cost of sustainable production (the Fairtrade minimum price), a premium that producers can invest in development (the Fairtrade premium), partial payment in advance if the producers ask for it, and signing contracts that allow long term and sustainable production.
Reaping the Benefits
Sustained awareness campaigns and strict compliance requirements by Fairtrade have helped millions of marginalised producers in developing nations reap the benefits of fair and equitable terms. Fairtrade prevents exploitative trading systems where middlemen pocket all the profits. It is the only system which ensures that a multitude of disadvantaged communities get a decent life without us having to pay more for the products.
