Fair Trade Certification Overview

Certification Overview

The Fair Trade Certified™ label guarantees consumers that strict economic, social and environmental criteria were met in the production and trade of an agricultural product. Fair Trade Certification is currently available in the U.S. for coffee, tea and herbs, cocoa and chocolate, fresh fruit, flowers, sugar, rice, and vanilla. TransFair USA licenses companies to display the Fair Trade Certified label on products that meet strict international Fair Trade standards.

Fair Trade Certification empowers farmers and farm workers to lift themselves out of poverty by investing in their farms and communities, protecting the environment, and developing the business skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace.

Fair Trade principles include:

• Fair prices: Democratically organized farmer groups receive a guaranteed minimum floor price and an additional premium for certified organic products. Farmer organizations are also eligible for pre-harvest credit.
• Fair labor conditions: Workers on Fair Trade farms enjoy freedom of association, safe working conditions, and living wages. Forced child labor is strictly prohibited.
• Direct trade: With Fair Trade, importers purchase from Fair Trade producer groups as directly as possible, eliminating unnecessary middlemen and empowering farmers to develop the business capacity necessary to compete in the global marketplace.
• Democratic and transparent organizations: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers decide democratically how to invest Fair Trade revenues.
• Community development: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers invest Fair Trade premiums in social and business development projects like scholarship programs, quality improvement trainings, and organic certification.
• Environmental sustainability: Harmful agrochemicals and GMOs are strictly prohibited in favor of environmentally sustainable farming methods that protect farmers' health and preserve valuable ecosystems for future generations.

TransFair USA monitors manufacturers and importers

TransFair USA traces Fair Trade product from producers on the international Fair Trade Register to importers, manufacturers, and distributors in the US. TransFair USA's rigorous audit system verifies industry compliance with Fair Trade criteria. TransFair USA allows U.S. companies to display the Fair Trade Certified label on products that meet strict Fair Trade standards.

FLO monitors producers

TransFair USA belongs to Fairtrade Labeling Organizations (FLO), an international organization headquartered in Bonn, Germany. Just as TransFair USA audits the activities of manufacturers and importers in the US, FLO manages the Fair Trade Register, a list of certified producers. The work of TransFair USA and FLO complement each other, so that the chain of custody is tracked from the farm to the finished product. To learn more about FLO, click here >.

FLO reviews each producer that applies for certification. Only those groups that meet product-specific criteria and are approved by FLO are eligible to sell to the Fair Trade market. Applications are followed by an inspection for compliance with Fair Trade criteria. If you are a producer group or generally interested in reviewing product-specific Fair Trade criteria, click here >.

Please submit all questions relevant to producer certification to FLO at certification@fairtrade.net