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Fair Price
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
International (FLO).
Producer organisations that supply Fairtrade
products are inspected and certified by FLO.
They receive a minimum price that covers the
cost of sustainable production and an extra
premium that is invested in social or economic
development projects.
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 History
Development agencies recognised the
important role that consumers could play to
improve the situation for producers. By buying
direct from farmers at better prices, helping
to strengthen their organisations and marketing
their produce directly through their own one
world shops and catalogues, the charities
offered consumers the opportunity to buy products
which were bought on the basis of a fair trade.
Fairtrade
Labelling was created in the Netherlands in
the late 1980s. The Max Havelaar Foundation
launched the first Fairtrade consumer guarantee
label in 1988 on coffee sourced from Mexico.
Today FLO co-ordinates Fairtrade Labelling
in FLO International is the umbrella association
of Labelling Initiatives known as Max Havelaar,
TransFair, Fairtrade Foundation, and by other
national names. At the moment, there are 20
Labelling Initiatives, mainly throughout Europe
and North America. They license the Certification
Mark onto consumer products and promote Fairtrade
in their country.
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List
of Labelling Initiatives
Full
members & Further Links
Associate
members
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