Fairtrade
What is Fairtrade?
Fairtrade incorporates so many issues that a definition has proven difficult to produce. The closest thing to an official definition comes from FINE, 2001 which incorporates Fairtrade Labelling Organisations (FLO), International Federation for Alternative Trade, Network of European World Shops and European Fair Trade Association:
"Fair Trade is a trading partnership based on dialogue, transparency and respect, which seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalised 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."'' [1]
Fairtrade products not only guarantee a fair price for products in the Third World but also provide producers with a premium to be used in development.
Fairtrade Mark
The FAIRTRADE Mark is an independent consumer label which appears on products as an independent guarantee that disadvantaged producers in the developing world are getting a better deal. For a product to display the FAIRTRADE Mark it must meet international Fairtrade standards. These standards are set by the international certification body Fairtrade Labelling Organisations (FLO). Producer organisations that supply Fairtrade products are inspected and certified by FLO. Fairtrade Foundation UK licenses the FAIRTRADE Mark to products in the UK which meet FLO standards. The supplier (brand-owner or main national distributor) must sign the Foundation’s Licence Agreement which provides a licence to use the Mark.
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Until recently many different fairtrade logos existed making it difficult for consumers to relate to common fairtrade standards or recognise easily which products were fairly traded. Since 2003 however one international logo has been used which has been developed by FLO although the rate of introducation has varied from country to country. The logo can be seen at: [[3]]
Issues with Fairtrade
Cost
One of the main issues critics have of the Fairtrade movement is the apparant high cost of the products and this was subject to scrutiny in a recent BBC2 documentary by the Money Programme 10/03/2006. [4]
Fairtrade products can incur additional costs in the supply chain between farm gate and shop shelf compared to conventional products. Mostly this is due to the scale of Fairtrade sales, compared to the leading products in the conventional market. Costs like shipping, importing and packaging will all be higher on a unit basis for products traded in relatively low volumes.
Supermarket mark-up
Big Business
Percentage of Fairtrade Ingredients
Fees
Local vs Fairtrade
Supply
Encourages consumerism
Branding
![[3]](http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/downloads/jpg/mark_colour_horizontal.JPG){kind=link}