How to identify fairly traded goods

People often ask how they can tell whether goods have been fairly traded. There are so many claims made . . . how do we know what is genuine? There are three main ways of recognising a genuine Fair Trade relationship:

The Fairtrade Foundation and the FAIRTRADE Mark

The FAIRTRADE Mark guarantees a better deal for producers through specific standards for producers and traders. There are two sets of standards for Fairtrade certified producers: one for democratic small farmers' organisations and one for plantations and factories. With respect to the latter, for example, producers must:

On plantations and in factories, minimum health and safety as well as environmental standards must be complied with, and no child or forced labour can occur.

Fairtrade registered traders agree to:

(information taken from the Fairtrade Foundation website, www.fairtrade.org.uk and supplemented by the Fairtrade Foundation)

The FAIRTRADE Mark, which is administered in the UK by the Fairtrade Foundation, is a guarantee that these standards have been met. If you see it on a product - and as of Winter 2007, there were more than 2,500 retail and catering products carrying the Mark! --you can be sure that the producers of that product (or, where only some ingredients are certified, the producers of those ingredients) have received a fair deal. If you want to see the Fairtrade standards for any particular product, you can find them by going to the Fairtrade Labelling Organization [FLO]'s website's standards page www.fairtrade.net/sites.standards/set/html.

NB: The FAIRTRADE Mark applies to products, not companies. It guarantees that a specific product's producers received a fair deal -- but should not be taken to imply anything about a company as a whole. If the company as a whole is not a Fair Trade Organisation (as certified below), there is no guarantee that the producers of its non-FAIRTRADE-Marked products are in a Fair Trade relationship

The Fair Trade Organisation Mark

The FAIRTRADE Mark's standards, however, apply primarily to commodity products: things like coffee, tea, bananas, cocoa, sugar and cotton. Most handicrafts aren't certified on a product by product basis - it would be too complicated to work out the standards for each product. So how do you know whether such products really are fairly traded? One way is to buy products produced or imported by Fair Trade Organisations. Fair Trade groups that produce and/or import fairly traded products -- whether these be food, handicrafts, clothing or any other product -- are recognised as Fair Trade Organisations if they adhere to the International Fair Trade Association [IFAT]'s Fair Trade standards and are members of IFAT.³

IFAT (www.ifat.org) is a global network of over 270 Fair Trade Organisations that works to develop Fair Trade markets, build trust in Fair Trade through monitoring and advocate for fairer trade. Members have been through IFAT's monitoring process. Traidcraft, Tearcraft, and Divine Chocolate are some of the best known IFAT members - others include clothing companies like Bishopston Trading and People Tree and handicrafts companies like Shared Earth.

In their promotional materials, Fair Trade Organisations will often indicate that they are members of IFAT, and often use the Fair Trade Organisation Mark. (seen left, on the IFAT banner) Membership of IFAT and use of the FTO Mark are also signs of a genuine Fair Trade relationship.

The British Association of Fair Trade Shops [BAFTS]

Importers and retailers can also be members of BAFTS - the British Association of Fair Trade shops (www.bafts.org.uk). BAFTS members also include, as the name implies, Fair Trade shops . . . though smaller local shops - while selling largely or wholly Fair Trade goods -- may not necessarily have applied for certification. To find a list of Fair Trade shops in our area, click on the "Where Can I Buy Fair Trade" link below.