Fair trade is a social movement and market model that aims to empower
small-scale farmers and consumers in underdeveloped countries to create
an alternative
trading system that supports equitable trading, sustainable development
and
long-term trading relationships. Fair
trade supports fair prices and wages for producers, safe working
conditions,
investment in community development projects, and the elimination of
child
labor, workplace discrimination and exploitation.

 

Certified fair trade products now represent a
multi-billion dollar industry with over 10,000 products in the marketplace.
Consumer demand for fair trade products has steadily risen over the course of
the last decade thanks to the tireless work of dedicated advocates, fully
committed companies, and students.

On
September 15th, Fairtrade International (FLO) and Fair Trade USA
(FTUSA) jointly announced that FTUSA is resigning its membership in FLO,
effective December 31, 2011. FTUSA’s
resignation from the FLO system is partially due to its new initiative, “Fair
Trade For All” (http://fairtradeforall.com/) which it
claims will “double the impact” of fair trade by 2015.

In an open letter, Rob
Cameron, CEO of Fairtrade International, wrote: “I, the staff at Fairtrade
International, and the entire global Fairtrade network sincerely regret FTUSA’s
decision to pursue its own approach, rather than continue working within the
global system. It is a decision they have taken themselves, and we have to
respect their choice.”

Fair Trade
USA’s move raises many questions for fair trade producers in the Global South.
Many producers rely heavily on the US market for sales and distribution.
FTUSA’s rash exit from the FLO system will most certainly cause chaos in the
near-term as FTUSA has failed to publish its own standards or details regarding
its new labeling scheme. In the long run, everything from consumer apathy to
competing labels that make similar claims will undermine the fair trade market
and the overall positive impact for producers.

At its
core, “Fair Trade For All” is FTUSA’s unilateral decision to initiate certification of Fair Trade coffee
on plantation and hired labor operations. FTUSA intends to open other
commodities, like cocoa, to plantation and hired labor for certification as
well. Fair trade was established on the values of supporting small-scale,
disenfranchised farming communities, most often organized in democratic
cooperatives. Despite claims to the contrary, hundreds of thousands of small
producers organized in cooperatives still lack access to fair trade markets. To
continue to make progress and expand the benefits of fair trade, these
producers must be given priority and support when considering further expansion
of the fair trade system. Without strict standards and implementation, the
expansion of fair trade to include plantations in coffee and other sectors will
most certainly erode standards and dilute fair trade’s impact.

While it is true that farmer and worker
advocates are deeply concerned with the plight of farmworkers and other hired
laborers in the Global South, it is not conclusive that the current fair trade
system is the best antidote for their situation. Fair trade’s record as it relates to
hired labor operations, like tea and bananas has been anything but
successful. In fact, the literature suggests that fair trade certification
often undermines national labor laws and the union presence that brings more
benefits to plantation workers than fair trade.

FTUSA’s decision has drawn the widespread condemnation
of fair trade producer networks, including the Network of Asian Producers (NAP), Latin American and Caribbean Network of
Small Fair Trade Producers (CLAC)

and Fairtrade
Africa.
It is inconceivable that an organization who’s organizational values include striving “to always act
ethically and we value relationships built on honesty, mutual respect and
trust” would advance a program without the knowledge or consent of the very
producers it aims to support.

FTUSA’s move away from FLO
comes on the heels of the organization’s controversial name change. In fall of
2010, FTUSA changed their name from TransFair USA, eliciting a significant
uproar from within the FT community, with over 10k concerned consumers,
advocates, and FT organizations sending letters to FTUSA expressing their
concern about what many saw as an effort to monopolize the FT market and
movement in the United States
.

In January 2011, the Organic
Consumers Association (OCA) filed a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC)
, charging that FTUSA authorized the misleading and deceptive labeling and
advertising of the “Mark” brand products as “Fair Trade Certified” when, in
fact, the products so labeled contain a minimal amount of fair trade certified
ingredients. Over 8k people have signed letters in support of OCA’s complaint. OCA
is awaiting the pending decision from the FTC.

FTUSA has repeatedly failed
to apply FLO standards.  Case in point is
FLO’s commercial availability standard

2.2.Various
brands and products lines
which states that “Food composite ingredients
must contain as many [FLO Fair Trade] certified ingredients as available.” (http://www.fairtrade.net/standards.0.html).
Dozens of products in the marketplace, ranging from Honest Tea to Sunspire
Organic Cocoa Chips, have failed to source fair trade ingredients, yet continue
to display the FTUSA fair trade seal. This dilution of the standards undermines
consumer confidence in fair trade and denies producers the full benefit of a
fair trade market.

Finally, FTUSA has a poor
track record of responsibly engaging stakeholders on new initiatives. For
example, FTUSA’s textile and
apparel multi-stakeholder process was contentious and divisive, not to mention
a missed opportunity to create common cause and alliances with trade unions and
labor advocates. For more information on this process, see the open

Letter to Transfair USA
regarding Fair Trade Garments Pilot Project
” signed by International Labor
Rights Forum, SweatFree Communities, Presbyterian Hunger Project, STITCH,
Workers United (an affiliate of SEIU), New York Labor Religion Coalition and
the Organic Consumers Association.

The future of fair trade in the United States and beyond

Fair
trade is at a critical crossroads. Despite the incredible potential in the
United States to support ethical and fair companies and initiatives, the market
is overrun with hundreds of social, ethical, green, and sustainable labels and certifiers,
many with questionable ethics and standards. For consumers to maintain
confidence in FTUSA and its certification program, FTUSA must actively and in
good faith be accountable to producers and civil society at large.

FWP calls upon Fair Trade
USA to do the following:

1)   
Suspend plans
for certifying plantations and other hired labor operations in coffee and other
commodities.

2)   
Promptly publish
its new fair trade standards with clear mechanisms for accountable stakeholder
review and engagement.

3)   
Open its Board
of Directors to broad participation from members of producer networks, fair
trade advocates, and students.

4)   
Commit to full
transparency and traceability.

5)   
Create an
ethical labeling scheme that clearly identifies percentage of FT ingredients on
packaging and whether the product contains ingredients from plantations or
estates.

6)   
Actively
cooperate with FLO, IMO and other reputable certifiers to establish a “high
bar” standard for fair trade certification.