Information about Fairtrade/Rättvisemärkt
Fairtrade is a strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Its purpose is to create opportunities for producers and workers who have been economically disadvantaged or marginalized by the conventional trading system. If fair access to markets under better trade conditions would help them to overcome barriers to development, they can join Fairtrade.
Fairtrade is a tool for development that ensures disadvantaged farmers and workers in developing countries get a better deal through the use of the Fairtrade/Rättvisemärkt label.
The Fairtrade Certification Mark
For a product to display the Fairtrade/Rättvisemärkt label it must meet international Fairtrade standards which are set by the international certification body Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO). These standards are agreed through a process of research and consultation with key participants in the Fairtrade scheme, including producers themselves, traders, NGOs, academic institutions and labelling organisations such as Rättvisemärkt and the other labelling initiatives.
The Fairtrade/Rättvisemärkt label can be found on products such as coffee, tea, bananas, cocoa, chocolate, rice, sugar, fresh fruit, juices, wine, cotton, flowers, sportballs and many other products.
International Fairtrade standards
Fairtrade standards are not simply a set of minimum standards for socially responsible production and trade. The Fairtrade standards go further in seeking to support the development of disadvantaged and marginalized small-scale farmers and plantation workers. Fairtrade standards relate to three areas of sustainable development: social development, economic development and environmental development. In summary the key objectives of the standards are to:
- ensure a guaranteed Fairtrade minimum price which is agreed with producers
- provide an additional Fairtrade premium which can be invested in projects that enhance social, economic and environmental development
- enable pre-financing for producers who require it
- emphasize the idea of partnership between trade partners
- facilitate mutually beneficial long-term trading relationships
- set clear minimum and progressive criteria to ensure that the conditions for the production and trade of a product are socially and economically fair and environmentally responsible.
FLO-Cert
Whilst FLO sets the standards, and works with producers to help them meet them, a separate international certification company ( FLO-Cert ) regularly inspects and certifies producers against these standards, and audits the flow of goods between producers and importers in the countries where the International Fairtrade label is available in the marketplace.
History
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. The idea spread to other countries; some took the name “Max Havelaar”, others prefered names such as “Transfair”, “Fairtrade” or "Rättvisemärkt". The 20 organizations run the international standard setting and monitoring body Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO).
Contact information:
Rättvisemärkt/Fairtrade
Åsögatan 115
116 24 Stockholm
Sweden
Phone +46 8 1220 89 00
E-mail: info@rattvisemarkt.se
For more information about Fairtrade in English and links to sister organizations worldwide, please visit the following: Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International - FLO
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