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Fairtrade (FLO)
Summary

Fairtrade Labelling Organisation International (FLO) is part of a worldwide network of Fairtrade organisations actively involved in supporting producers, awareness raising and campaigning for changes in the rules and practices of conventional international trade. Fairtrade standards have been developed to support small-scale farmers in trading their produce on the international market. For certain products standards have also been developed for plantations who wish to ‘trade fairly’.
Objective  Is the focus of the standard on economic, social, environmental, food safety or organic issues?
 Social-economic:
Access to fair markets
Better conditions for trade
Environmental (minimal) requirements
Why?  Who is asking you to use this system? Is it a market requirement or a voluntary system?
 Voluntary system focussed on small scale producers.
Scope of the standard  What kind of processes within your organisation/company should be changed according to the standard’s criteria? Most systems look at the production process, and/or look at the processing of the produce. Some systems look at organisational processes as well, e.g. if democratic structures are in place, how support departments are organized (HRM/financial), if internal control systems are in place, if ILO labour conditions are implemented, etcetera. Additionally the processes of your suppliers or service provider can be part of the standards’ scope as well. This means that you are responsible for the sustainability of their (or part of their) actions as well.
organisational processes Y: democracy, transparency, labour conditions, non-discrimination, etcetera
(on-farm) production Y
processing Y: only if within the same legal body as the producer organisation
supplier/service provider Y: partly licensee is responsible for traceability
Who can apply?  Not every code or standard can be used by every actor within the supply chain. Some are just targeted to a specific group within the chain, others focus on the complete chain. You can think of the following parties: producers/producer group, processor, exporter/trader, importer, retailer.  
producers/producer groups Y: small farmers & workers on plantations
processor N
exporter/trader Y: can become FLO certified for exporting/trading the product, however can also be used as a service provider by another FLO operator
importer Y: has to become FLO certified to import/trade the product
retail Y: retailer or brand need to have a license of the national fairtrade inititiative to sell fairtrade products and sales are controlled
Products  Most systems focus on specific products, product groups or sectors. Please look carefully if you produce falls under the scope of the standard.
 19 product (groups) have been identified of whihc mainly food.
For the list of products click here
Markets  Although most systems are used worldwide, they often have their origin or focus in a specific country or region. Some countries/regions prefer a certain code or standard.
 EU market
USA market
Rest of the world
Condition is: a national labelling inititiative (e.g. Max Havelaar) has to be involved to control marketing under FT conditions in that particular country.
Benefits  A very legitimate question is what this specific certification means to you. Does it provide you access to markets, or even to niche markets? Does it guarantee a better price, or maybe even a premium on top of a minimum price? Does it create better access to support services?  
market access Y
access to niche market Y: with a guaranteed minimum price for the fairtrade product
premium Y:
other Y: more/better access to support services (e.g. support from NGO's/development sector), prefinancing options, credit possibilities (indirect).
Support services  To be able to comply with the requirements of such systems, you may need some support. Various experts in the field of certification are available and can give this (paid/free) support. FLO has liaison officers in various countries, that can support producers that want their products to become FLO certified.
Adaptations/investments   - Small farmers should have formed organisations (co-operatives, associations)
- Democratically control of members
- Dependent of market opportunities:just specific products (19#)
- No guaranteed sales under fairtrade label - Progress requirements
- Labour conditions in place
- Additional requirements to protect environment in place
- Internal control system; traceability
- Environmental requirements
- Yearly progress reports
- Yearly audits (costs)
Costs & Time  Working with these certification systems and implementing the necessary steps is often not an easy task. You have to be aware of the many implications and adaptations you may have to make. This section gives some examples of the kind of investments you to have to think of. Annual audit costs
Certification fee by FLO cert (one time)
Application fee to FLO (one time)
For an overview of the fees click here
Organisation development cost
Corrective actions
Annual renewal costs of certificate
System characteristics  In this section you will find a link to the standard itself and some main points of attention.
 Minimum requirements should be met from the beginning.
Progress requirements are set for constant improvement.
Specific standards exist per product group. Always abide legislation.
For the generic and product standards click here
Verification    
internal inspection Y: internal inspection before FLO inspection
external inspection - Certification only by FLO cert according to international norms (ISO 65)
- Yearly progress reports
- Renewal of the certificate every year
Type of label  One of ways to show that a product complies with a specific standard is to label it. Some codes or standards do not use a label at all. Nevertheless, most choose to carry a Business to Business (B2B) or a Consumer label.
 Fairtrade label (consumer label)
Who's behind it?  What is the origin of the standard, and who has initiated the idea? Who is the owner of the certification system?
 Multistakeholder initiative:
FLO international is the umbrella organisation of 20 different national labelling inititiative (LI)in different countries (e.g. Max Havelaar). FLO is owned and managed by the producers, traders and the LI's.
Trends  The trend section is mainly based on future perspectives of the standard. Are they going to expand to other products, other markets? Is there increasing interest from markets for this specific certification? What can you expect in the coming period?
 Growing market for Fairtrade products
Extension of products: more then just food
available for other layers in the chain (processing) Equivalence/harmonisation with other standards (social)
Extension of support services
Labelling for southern market
South-south trade
Contact FLO Certified for applications
  website FLO Cert.
   
all certification systems

 
 
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