About Fair Trade

 What is Fair Trade?

At its base, Fair Trade is an alternative way of doing business; one that builds long-term, transparent and mutually beneficial partnerships between consumers and producers.

There are many definitions of precisely what Fair Trade is, but one that is often agreed upon is the FINE definition:

"Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers especially in the South.Fair Trade organisations (backed by consumers) are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade."

A Bit of History

Follow this link to get a brief history of how Fair Trade got started.

Fair Trade Principles and Criteria

Each certifying body and association have their own list of principles or certification criteria that specify what to them embodies Fair Trade.  They all approach each other, though there are small variations.  If you are curious to find out more, you can take a look at the links below for the principles assigned by each organization.

FLO Standards

IFAT Fair Trade principles

Important Organizations and Associations

Fair trade certification can apply to either a specific product, or a company.

	FLO FLO is an umbrella organization comprised of 20 Labelling Initiaves, including Transfair USA and Transfair Canada which control and distribute labels on products purchased by consumers in the corresponding country www.fairtradenet.com FLO-CERT GmbH is an independent International Certification Company that offers Fairtrade Certification services (of products only) to clients in more than 70 countries www.flo-cert.net
	WFTO  WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization - formerly IFAT) is an international association of over 350 organizations and companies dedicated to Fair Trade principles in over 70 different countries.  Approximately two-thirds of the members are producer groups. The FTO (Fair Trade Organisation) mark can be displayed in a store or on documentation, but not on the products themselves as WFTO corresponds to companies and organizations Check out www.wfto.org for more!
	FTF The Fair Trade Federation is a trade association of the dedicated Fair Trade companies in North America.  Membership in FTF can be an additional indicator to a consumer that a company is fully committed to Fair Trade.  However, it is important to note that they are not a certifying body.  Visit www.fairtradefederation.org for more about this association.

To the consumer, what is the difference between buying a product that was certified by FLO (via Transfair USA, Transfair Canada), or a product made by a company certified by WFTO?

WFTO identifies the company is a member committed to providing fair wages and good employment opportunities to economically disadvantaged artisans and farmers worldwide. A Transfair label (in Canada and the USA) certifies products — not companies. The Transfair logo simply indicates that the packaged product was purchased from the producer under Fair Trade terms. It does not certify the company’s commitment to Fair Trade principles nor does it indicate that a certain minimum percentage of the company’s products are Fair Trade certified. Many companies use a few token Fair Trade items as a marketing tool to give the impression of being a Fair Trade company. So, we encourage supporters who are interested in supporting Fair Traders to "Look beyond the Label".

See this diagram for a visual  illustration of these two certification schemes.

FINE was created in 1998 and is an informal association of the four main Fair Trade networks: FLO, IFAT (now WFTO), NEWS (Network of European Worldshops), and EFTA (European Fair Trade Association).  It was created with the goal of sychronizing the mission and message of these Fair Trade organizations.  Since 2004, it has functioned as the Fair Trade Advocacy Office out of Brussels and coordinates advocacy activities of the four networks. Charter of Fair Trade Principles (Jan 2009) Check out www.fairtrade-advocacy.org for more information!

Take a look as well at this Consumer Reports overview of different certification schemes..They look at different organic certifiers, alternative certification like Rainforest Alliance, as well as Fair Trade,