Fair Trade Certification - What Does It Mean?

What does a certification mean? We have a general idea that Fair Trade is something good, but what does “Fair Trade Certified” actually mean?

The certification process begins when a producer cooperative files an application with one of the independent monitoring organizations that does Fair Trade certification.

In the United States, most Fair Trade certification is done by TransFair USA. In site inspections of farms are done by a local Fairtrade Labelling Organization. The inspectors visit the farms to check that environmental sustainability norms are being followed and that workers are being paid fair wages and have safe and proper working conditions.

The criteria for certification include:

• Guaranteed floor price paid directly to the producer group, or income paid to the worker organization. In the case of coffee, the floor price paid to the producer group is $1.26 per pound of coffee.
• Fair labor conditions for farm workers.
• Freedom of association for farmers and workers, and democratic decision-making processes.
• Environmental standards that restrict use of agrochemicals and foster sustainability.
• Removal of unnecessary middlemen that decrease producer income.
• Access to pre-harvest lines of credit for cooperatives.