| Marks and Labels |
| 16 June 2010 | |
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The world would be a great place if we could believe everything we're told. Chances are if that were true, all trade would already be fair. But it isn't, so we need confirmation that products and produce are truly crafted, grown, marketed and sold under Fair Trade principles and standards.
In the jungle of labels crowding the market, two globally recognized Fair Trade logos stand out: the WFTO Mark and the Fairtrade label. Though they serve similar markets, they represent two different approaches to Fair Trade monitoring and certification. WFTO logo  The WFTO logo is for organisations who demonstrate a 100% commitment to Fair Trade in all their business activities. Only monitored WFTO members are authorized to use the logo. In 2009, all our monitored members have transitioned from the IFAT FTO Mark to the WFTO logo displayed here. Launched in 2004 at the World Social Forum in India, the logo shows that an organisation follows the WFTO's 10 Principles of Fair Trade, covering working conditions, transparency, wages, the environment, gender equity and more. The WFTO logo is not a product mark - it is used to brand organisations that are committed to 100% Fair Trade. It sets them apart from commercial as well as other Fair Trade businesses, and provides a clear signal to retailers, partners, governments and donors that their core activity is Fair Trade. The WFTO is currently developing a label for independent third-party certified Fair Trade Organizations as part of the Sustainable Fair Trade Management System (SFTMS). The SFTMS was originally designed for marginalised producers currently not catered for by the Fairtrade Certification system, which was designed for commodity products. Due to the variety and complexity of handcrafts, for example, a product standard is technically difficult to apply. The SFTMS provides an alternative that will verify that an organisation practices Fair Trade in all its activities. Once certified, the organisation will be able to use the label on all its products. Fairtrade label  The Fairtrade label is a product label, an initiative of Fairtrade Labelling Organisation International (FLO-I). The origins of the Fairtrade label date back to the 1980s, when a priest working with smallholder coffee farmers in Mexico and a collaborator of a Dutch church-based NGO conceived the idea of a Fair Trade label. In 1988, the Max Havelaar label was established in the Netherlands. The concept caught on, and within a year coffee with the label had a market share of almost 2%. A number of similar labelling organisations followed in other European countries and in North America. In 1997, these labelling initiatives were united in FLO-I, who manages a certification system of standards for production, trade and labelling of a number of, mainly commodity, products. The label does vary from country to country, although most use the familiar logo displayed here. |
