Breaking Down Fair Trade Certifying Bodies

by zarah

Published September 28, 2008 @ 06:27AM PT

FTO. FTF. FTC. IFAT. FLO. TFUSA. In Fair Trade, there are so many acronyms thrown at you, sometimes it feels like people are speaking in code. To make things simple, here's a breakdown of what I like to call the "Fair Trade Four" - the four Fair Trade Organizations (FTO) out there that are certifying either the Fair Trade products on your shelves or the Fair Trade businesses or organizations you are aligning yourselves with. So let's spoon through this alphabet soup of organizations and see who is floating around in this Fair Trade pot - don't worry, I'm pretty sure it's organic.

First, let's start off with two organizations that certify products.

Fairtrade Labelling Organizations (FLO) International is an umbrella organization of 20 labelling initiatives in 21 countries and producer networks in Latin America, Asia and Africa.  It's an independent organization that provides certification for social and economic development, and it's established itself as  the leader in setting the international Fair Trade standards, supporting producers in their efforts to become Fair Trade, certify production and audit trade according to the established standards, act as a product certifier, and organize with other FTOs to promote trade justice.

Transparency is key in developing Fair Trade standards and certifying products. To that end, Fair Trade standards are reviewed by the FLO Standards committee, which consists of stakeholders from FLO's member organizations, producer organizations, traders and external experts in the Fair Trade world.

Fairtrade Certification is carried out by an international independent certification company known as FLO-CERT GMBH. FLO-CERT  certifies the production of Fair Trade products with the help of 60 independent inspectors who regularly visit producer organizations to make sure they are complying with Fair Trade standards. FLO-CERT has also developed a trade auditing system for traders and retailers to make sure that every product sold to the consumer was produced by a Fair Trade Certified producer organization and that a fair price was paid in the trade dealings.

Part of FLO's site inspection is conducted to ensure that the Fair Trade premiums guaranteed to producers are used toward socioeconomic development. FLO has made an impact on producers in over 59 countries by helping in sustainable development and economic empowerment and the positive impact of FLO's work continue to expand as the movement broadens.

Earlier I described FLO as an umbrella organization consisting of several labeling initiatives. Under that umbrella lives TransFairUSA (TFUSA), an organization that supplies a familiar certification label.

TransFairUSA is the only third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States. It conducts transparent audits between U.S. companies that sell Fair Trade Certified (FTC) products and the international importers that source them, making sure that producers of the FTC goods were paid a fair, above-market price. After going through the rigorous auditing system, TransFair authorizes US companies to display the Fair Trade Certified label on products that comply with the international Fair Trade standards established by FLO.

TFUSA started out in 1998 to bring Fair Trade Certified coffee to U.S. consumers and has since been able provide $60 million more to producers in Asia, Africa and Latin America than if they were to trade through traditional markets. Since its inception, TransFair has expanded its Fair Trade Certified products to tea, cocoa, rice, sugar and fresh fruit. Its core mission is to enable a more equitable and sustainable trade system that benefits farmers, consumers, industry and the earth.

For the second half of the "Fair Trade Four" we'll look at the organizations that evaluate businesses and organizations.

First, the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) is comprised of more than 300 Fair Trade Organizations (FTOs) in 70 countries, with 65% of those member organizations coming from the Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Member organizations consist of producer cooperatives, retailers, importers, export companies and financial institutions all committed to uphold and promote Fair Trade principles.

IFAT define their three main areas of work as developing the market for Fair Trade to help increase opportunities for producers, building trust in Fair Trade through the monitoring of IFAT members making sure they're upholding to the highest standard their commitment to Fair Trade, and by advocating for Fair Trade.

Once again, transparency is the key in building trust in the Fair Trade system. Every two years members must go through a self-assessment process in which they make sure they continue to meet IFAT's standards. Members then share their self-assessment reports with their trading partners to review. Finally, every year a percentage of IFAT members are selected at random to have their self-assessment process verified by an external independent inspector. As long as the member organization passes all portals of monitoring, they are entitled to carry the FTO mark (link to FTO IFAT label piece).

In North America, the Fair Trade Federation (FTF) does its part to strengthen and promote organizations fully committed to Fair Trade. It values a more equitable and transparent trading system, advocates for respectful trading partnerships in which everyone in the supply chain gets an equal voice, believes in strong community of trust and support, values economic, social, environmental and cultural sustainability and strives to make an impact by educating consumers about the value of Fair Trade.  The FTF connects Fair Trade oriented businesses and organizations with one another thus expanding markets for artisans and farmers around the globe.

FTF membership is open to any U.S. or Canadian based retailer or importer that has: 1) been in business for at least 180 days, 2) strives to sell 100% fairly traded products, and 3) has passed the FTF screening process based on FTF's eight Fair Trade principles.

Once the organization gets approval to become a member, they must submit updated information each year to ensure that they are continuing to uphold Fair Trade principles. So, when you see an organization or a business carrying the FTF logo, you are assured that they have gone through a rigorous screening process guaranteeing them to be a 100% Fair Trade business. Once a business or organization is added to the FTF member roster, they are immediately part of the large Fair Trade network. By carrying the FTF logo, other Fair Trade businesses are able to easily identify them as potential business partners and Fair Trade consumers are guaranteed that they are patronizing a business fully committed to Fair Trade.

The Fair Trade Four make it easier for you and I to spot Fair Trade from the crowd by certifying products and organizations. A lot goes into the process of making sure that Fair Trade principles are respected and with the help and hard work of these four certifying bodies, the Fair Trade movement is able to strengthen and expand.