FOOD PRODUCTS AND A FEW OTHERS

There are only 18 products which are “certified” as fair trade products. These include:

• Food items
  • bananas, fresh fruit and vegetables, fruit juices
  • cocoa/chocolate
  • coffee
  • dried fruit
  • herbs and spices
  • honey, cane sugar
  • nuts and oil seeds
  • quinoa, rice
  • tea
  • wine grapes
• Flowers and plants
• Seed cotton
• Sports balls

Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), established in 1997, is responsible for setting international Fair Trade standards for certifying production, trade and labelling of these specific products. These products carry the FLO trademark. The FLO is an umbrella organization that unites 20 labelling initiatives in 21 countries and producer networks representing Fairtrade Certified Producer Organizations in Central and South America, Africa and Asia.  FLO-I is now responsible for setting international Fair Trade standards for certifying production, trade and labelling of a certain number of products, (not handcrafts).

The label that these products carry is called the Fairtrade Label and usually looks like the logo on the right (although the label can vary from country to country).

The development and use of Fairtrade Standards:

• benefit small farmers and workers,
• promote sustainable production,
• guarantee a fair price and an extra Fairtrade Premium.

Producers and traders must continuously improve working conditions, increase the environmental sustainability of their activities,and invest in organizational development for workers and small farmers.

TransFair USA is the only independent, third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States. It works with importers and manufacturers in this country to document business practices, providing a reliable consumer guarantee that indicates what coffees, teas and chocolates have been purchased from producers according to international Fair Trade criteria. These criteria are established by Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO), a consortium of Fair Trade groups in Japan, Canada, the US and 17 European countries. FLO makes annual inspection visits to producer groups on its Fair Trade Register to ensure that the benefits of Fair Trade relationships are reaching the farmers.

TransFair USA monitors manufacturers and importers , by tracking each unit of Fair Trade product from producers on the international Fair Trade Register to importers, manufacturers, and distributors in the US. For every unit purchased from a Fair Trade producer group, TransFair USA receives supporting documentation—contracts, bills of lading, and invoices—from licensed importers. These documents demonstrate both that Fair Trade criteria were met and that farmers received the Fair Trade price. The process is detailed and thorough. Every purchase is tracked with a unique identification number to ensure accuracy.

TransFair USA belongs to Fairtrade Labeling Organizations. Just as TransFair audits the activities of manufacturers and importers in the US, FLO manages the Fair Trade Register, a list of certified producer cooperatives and associations. The work of TransFair USA and FLO complement each other, so that the chain of custody is tracked from the crop to the cup (or crop to chocolate bar).