Jaffee and Howard write that Fairtrade America’s partner, FI, accords some governance representation to its organized small-producer representatives, while Fair Trade USA does not. Fairtrade International maintains a Hazardous Materials List (HML) of agrochemicals (including pesticides) that can be potentially hazardous in some form or other to human and animal health as well as to the environment and therefore should be used only under caution. If you love coffee you are likely aware of the fair trade movement and what goals it is trying to achieve. In 2014, the movement introduced its Fairtrade Program symbol. The word “Fairtrade” in black is placed on the right. Fairtrade logo and symbol, meaning, history, PNG. But we are overdue in critically reviewing its evolution. This one was born of tensions concerning the representation of small-producer organizations within FI/FLO’s governance. The mark is used in over 50 countries. Our culture prefers lauding charitable claims over measuring the results. At a 2007 craft fair in Seattle, I found a vendor selling olive oil from the Holy Land that he called “fair trade” Peace Oil. But after 30 years of the fair trade movement, how much has really changed? We have 5 free Fairtrade vector logos, logo templates and icons. You can download in .AI, .EPS, .CDR, .SVG, .PNG formats. She earns a salary more typical of England than Nicaragua. He referred to the “nice lady” who regularly travels from England to audit his association’s compliance. I wondered if he was volunteering for a Palestinian-led enterprise or representing an Israeli business that employed workers uprooted to expand Jewish settlements. In 2009, FLO divided itself into FLOCERT and Fairtrade International. FWP was formed to educate consumers and promote accuracy in labeling, using a movement-oriented perspective on fair trade. What I heard next further jolted my idealistic vision of fair trade. However, the proportions of black and white are different, so the visual impression is different, too: in case of the Fairtrade Mark, black is the king, while on the Fairtrade Program Mark white dominates. An amazing 93% of UK shoppers recognise and 83% trust it when deciding whether a product is ethical. “Fair trade is a global movement with a strong and active presence in the UK, represented by the Fair trade Foundation. [CDATA[// >. Below, there is the blue lettering explaining what type of program the logo refers to (“Cocoa Program”, “Sugar Program” etc.). I was an early adopter of fair trade. The fracturing of certification marks didn’t stop there. But the biggest dividends go elsewhere: to product retailers, Global North–based promoters, and especially to the consciences of consumers. Based in Europe, FLO did not give farmers from the Global South any governance authority, an issue that is still contentious. As certification standards shifted to accommodate the interests of larger retail brands, some activists in the US worried they had seen this movie before—when the standards for defining organic agriculture were diluted. Prior exposure to rural poverty in Africa had sensitized me to the plight of farmers in the global economy. Surveying some Berkeley shops that offer both fair trade and conventional coffee, they found that customers would pay a premium of up to 50 cents. At first, coffee and cocoa fair traders focused exclusively on cooperatives of small- to medium-sized farms. Convincing an entire congregation to sell fair trade goods during its coffee hour multiplied that generous feeling. But other Fair for Life policies generated concern, such as its willingness to certify products sourced in the Global North. Rather than letting the rest of their crop rot unsold, farmers turn to the conventional (i.e., non–fair trade) market. Critics argued this would erode the movement’s historic support for small producers. A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement fair trade.The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The original FAIRTRADE Mark has always stood for fairly produced and fairly traded products. A June 11 article in the Washington Post attributed coffee’s lowest prices in 30 years to the increased volume of coffee emanating from Brazil and Vietnam. You see this Mark on single-ingredient products, such as bananas and coffee. Because fair trade imagines itself as rallying consumer support for producers, Gavin Fridell at Trent University in Ontario calls it “a symbolic challenge to commodity fetishism.”, In a 2007 article, Fridell argues that fair trade has a very limited ability to challenge “capitalist imperatives of competition, accumulation, and profit maximization” (see “Fair Trade Coffee and Commodity Fetishism: The Limits of Market-Driven Social Justice,” Historical Materialism, 2007). He and other economists say price guarantees without limits on production are a prescription for oversupply. In 1988, a Dutch ecumenical agency sponsored the world’s first fair trade coffee certification. Churches that support the movement should confront the gap between its vision and its accomplishments. I’d never considered how much fair trade status costs farmers, nor the logistical impossibility of inspecting every small farm. When a product carries the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, it means that all the ingredients have been produced according to Fairtrade political standards. Coffee’s retail earnings have climbed, but the raw commodity is being sold at prices as low as they were back when fair trade started 30 years ago. In recent years, competing new marks have appeared in Europe and North America. They deserve credit for its growing popularity among consumers. Brands of the World is the largest free library of downloadable vector logos, and a logo critique community. Any products or materials that use a Fair Trade Certified seal or language must be approved by your account manager first, including product packaging, marketing or promotional materials, and fair trade impact statements. Logos for (from left to right) Fairtrade America, the Small Producers’ Symbol, Fair for Life, and Fair Trade USA. The meaning of Fairtrade. Eventually, however, FI/FLO adopted its US affiliate’s strategy to reach larger masses of consumers by mainstreaming distribution channels. Article by 1000logos. Karl Marx predicted that capitalism would alienate consumers from producers by commodifying the goods buyers acquire. The association’s members are widely scattered throughout a mountainous region etched with very bad roads. My faith in fair trade began to crack a few years after the Seattle craft fair during travel to Nicaragua, where I met the executive director of a 1,300-member association of rural coffee farmers. In the wake of proliferating new certification marks, it has become more difficult than ever. The WFTO registers organizations, not products, which are entitled to use its FTO mark. I’m skeptical. In his book Help: The Original Human Dilemma, Garret Keizer wrote: “Feeling good about what you’re doing is no guarantee that you’re doing any good.”. These are often fair trade’s strongest advocates—and they must also be counted among its beneficiaries. Christians can be rightfully credited with helping initiate and build the fair trade movement. David Mesenbring is an Episcopal priest, writer, and speaker. Combined with the impact of climate change already debilitating Central American coffee farmers, the article links the growing desperation of coffee farmers to migratory pressure on the US’s southern border. The information is as follows, price per USD/(lb): The current market price for coffee (04/05/2020) is $1.04, the Fairtrade Minimum Purchase Price is $1.40, the Fairtrade Premium is $1.60, the organic premium is $1.90, Producers Direct Investment is $2.13. The Fair Trade logo also represents a commitment to environmental sustainability, empowerment of small-scale producers and fair and safe working conditions. Many analysts who are skeptical about fair trade’s ability to change the global trading system argue that it still educates consumers about inequities inherent in global trade. Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) was born in 1997. But why hasn’t that been more beneficial to farmers? I asked why the label on his bottles carried no service mark certifying compliance with fair trade practices. Gone are the days of a single fair trade mark. He sighed before averting his eyes. The FAIRTRADE Mark is the most widely recognized and trusted ethical label in the world. However, most trade depends on low-cost labour and exploitation of natural resources, which is neither fair nor sustainable. I learned that fair trade coffee sales have risen dramatically over the past decade. That’s why we’re committed to making the right choices the most obvious ones. The Fairtrade logo represents the blue as the sky the green as the grass and if you can see there is a guy waving (the black circle is his head and the middle of the green and the blue is him waving) Now, even veteran fair trade consumers are clueless about what differentiates Fairtrade America, Fair Trade USA, and Fair for Life. She cited efforts to increase the decision-making role of producer partners from the Global South. Claar asked whether fair trade “can deliver on its promise to enrich the lives of the poor.” He concludes that the promise of the movement is undermined by the complex dynamics of international trade. Historically, fair trade’s single most contentious issue concerns whether to certify plantations and for which products. Imbalanced power dynamics have been intrinsic to North-South relations ever since race evolved as a social construct. The Fairtrade certification mark has become widely familiar: a green-blue-black logo, resembling a yin-and-yang with a tear in its middle, soothing the consciences of shoppers the world over. Issues up for debate include labeling for a chocolate bar when the cocoa beans and sugar are fair trade certified but not its nuts, or what percentage of a large agribusiness’s coffee blend should be fair trade to warrant a certification and whether that licensee must commit to steadily increasing this percentage every year. The world’s poorest are both landless and jobless. One strength of IMO’s certification standards, according to Jaffee and Howard, lies in its audit of the entire product supply chain, including labor practices of producers, buyers, and retail brand holders. Article by1000logos The Body Shop has a history of setting up its own direct, fair trade relationships with suppliers, and only some of its products actually carry the Fairtrade logo. Jaffee and Howard conclude that Fair for Life has “the strongest labeling and ingredients policies of the four.”. Of all fair trade marks I’ve studied, SPP seems to me the one most closely associated with the movement’s original goals. The Fairtrade Logo is to indicate that the produce is sourced directly from the growers who employ local labour. The label wars spread farther when yet another new mark emerged in 2012. Unlike its international partners, Transfair USA evolved a hierarchical structure of administration, with “considerable power” in the hands of its CEO. Coffee beans photo by Anthia Cumming / E+ / Getty. The Max Havelaar mark borrows its name from a novel whose hero exposed the exploitation of coffee pickers in 19th-century Dutch colonies. While there are important differences among the major marks, all three have attracted both movement- and profit-oriented companies. The list of products involved has steadily expanded to include more agricultural commodities as well as household, health, beauty, and body care products, seafood, snacks, clothing, soccer balls, and more. Some are variants of a parent mark that signify a lower percentage of certified ingredients. Her monitoring involves examining governance documents and member communications before heading out to visit some farms. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Copyright © 2016-2019 All rights reserved. Soon after FLO was born, Transfair USA became its official representative in the United States, exclusively brokering the only available fair trade mark. Today, an ever-evolving international fair trade movement makes it hard to know what standards are being certified by which mark. It’s hard to stay abreast of fair trade’s ever-evolving standards of certification. Cooperatives don’t usually include the “poorest of the poor,” as some fair trade enthusiasts claim. Although it is based on the same roundel, the overall design is different. “Too expensive!” he replied. Trade Hong Kong. Download the vector logo of the Fairtrade brand designed by in Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) format. The Fairtrade certification initiative was created to form a new method for economic trade.This method takes an ethical standpoint, and considers the producers first.. point or further advice on the use of the FAIRTRADE Mark is needed, please use the contact details on the last page of these guidelines. The church hosting this craft fair was well known for its Palestinian advocacy, so the vendor sold lots of oil that weekend, none of it to me. WTA updates its logo, launching a storytelling campaign, Pokémon unveils the 25th anniversary logo, teasing the celebration next year, Pentagram creates new brand identity for Virgin Money, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas rolls out new logo invoking criticism, Mutual of Omaha changes Indian chief logo to African lion. FLOCERT is proud to be the certification body for Fairtrade, serving over 5,000 customers in over 120 countries.We have direct access to over 1.6 million farmers and workers in developing countries, creating a global network of FLOCERT customers and partners. Fred Bahnson and Ragan Sutterfield explore this issue from different directions. First, he mentioned the high cost of getting certified. Also at stake, of course, was the allure of larger licensing fees. Dedicated fair trade buyers believe these barriers are why the movement is needed: to certify better pricing for farmers, while improving their social infrastructure, working conditions, governance, and environmental practices. That was four years after the Small Producers’ Symbol (SPP) had emerged from a decade of efforts by CLAC, the Latin American and Caribbean Coordinator of Fair Trade Producers. Fair trade’s “symbolic challenge to commodification,” he says, “has in itself become a commodity to be bought and sold on Northern markets.”. As, Ground to a halt: Coffee farmers in peril. The goal of Fair Trade is to reduce poverty for farmers and workers in developing countries. What is the FAIRTRADE Mark? Only a tiny fraction of the price of fair trade coffee makes it back to the producers. The current roundel has definitely a lot in common with the ancient Chinese Yin and Yang symbol. However, Fairtrade is bringing out a new sourcing program which allows products to contain only 1 Fairtrade ingredient (for example, Fairtrade sugar in a chocolate bar). Perhaps they also had the higher licensing fees in mind. With the rise of competition, it wasn’t long before Transfair USA, FI/FLO, and Starbucks jointly announced new certification cooperation that would double Starbucks’ fair trade purchases in 2009, making it the world’s largest buyer of fair trade coffee. The current status of the logo is active, which means the logo is currently in use. But this figure includes sales to plantations where owners reap both an economy of scale and the guaranteed higher sales price which they are not required to share with their employees. Churches that have built the fair trade movement should also account for the gap between its vision and its accomplishments. Coffee beans photo by Anthia Cumming / E+ / Getty. The blue part of the circle actually looks like a half of the Yin and Yang symbol, while the green and black parts of the circle have a bit different shape somewhat similar to the Pepsi logo. Bruce Wydick, an economist at San Francisco State University, directed a study of how much more consumers are willing to pay for a cup of coffee that is fair trade certified. The prevailing logic was that winning even a small percentage of corporate agribusinesses’ purchasing power could dwarf the sales volume of smaller “movement-oriented” distributors. 5. I'm as down on big organics as the next guy who makes homemade sauerkraut out of cabbage grown by his farmer wife. None of these fair trade marks obliges plantation owners to share its higher sales premium with wage laborers. Each mark sets proprietary standards for when and how it can be displayed on product labels. It’s also the one most difficult to find on store shelves, even in progressive Seattle. But how much of that actually happens? Transfair USA sparked controversy at home and abroad by advocating that certification standards should be expanded to plantation-based agriculture. Today, virtually no consumers have learned to distinguish between Fair Trade USA and Fairtrade America. The Fair Trade Tourism Certified label is the mark of global best practice in sustainable tourism across Africa. In fact, only 28 percent of all coffee produced and certified as fair trade actually gets sold at the premium price. Customer Search. He can be found at whenmoneyismoral.com. Fairtrade is a movement for change that works directly with businesses, consumers and campaigners to make trade fair for farmers and workers.