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27-706: The Fair Trade Certified Mark is a fair trade certification mark used primarily in the United States and Canada. It appears on products as an independent guarantee that disadvantaged producers in the developing world are getting a better deal. The Fair Trade Certified Mark is the North American equivalent of the International Fairtrade Certification Mark used in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. For

54-417: A coordination problem : it emerges from situations in which all parties realize mutual gains, but only by making mutually consistent decisions. Examples : Private standards are developed by private entities such as companies, non-governmental organizations or private sector multi-stakeholder initiatives, also referred to as multistakeholder governance . Not all technical standards are created equal. In

81-494: A "give and take" between producers and purchases. The green signals the environmental strength of Fair Trade. Fair trade certification The Fairtrade International certification system covers a wide range of products, including banana, coffee, cocoa, cotton, cane sugar, flowers and plants, honey, dried fruit, fruit juices, herbs, spices, tea, nuts and vegetables. Fair trade is a strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. It aims to create greater equity in

108-434: A government (i.e., through legislation ), business contract, etc. The standardization process may be by edict or may involve the formal consensus of technical experts. The primary types of technical standards are: Technical standards are defined as: Technical standards may exist as: When a geographically defined community must solve a community-wide coordination problem , it can adopt an existing standard or produce

135-515: A large user base, doing some well established thing that between them is mutually incompatible. Establishing national/regional/international standards is one way of preventing or overcoming this problem. To further support this, the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee published the "Six Principles" guiding members in the development of international standards. The existence of a published standard does not imply that it

162-412: A new one. The main geographic levels are: National/Regional/International standards is one way of overcoming technical barriers in inter-local or inter-regional commerce caused by differences among technical regulations and standards developed independently and separately by each local, local standards organisation , or local company. Technical barriers arise when different groups come together, each with

189-621: A number of papers in relation to the proliferation of private food safety standards in the agri-food industry, mostly driven by standard harmonization under the multistakeholder governance of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). With concerns around private standards and technical barriers to trade (TBT), and unable to adhere to the TBT Committee's Six Principles for the development of international standards because private standards are non-consensus,

216-407: A product to carry either Certification Marks, it must come from Fair Trade USA inspected and certified producer organizations. The crops must be grown and harvested in accordance with the fair trade standards set by Fair Trade USA . Some of the supply chains are also monitored by FLOCERT to ensure the integrity of labelled products. Only Fair Trade USA (formerly "TransFair USA") licensees can use

243-562: A single international standard ; ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 14001 (environment), ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety), ISO 27001 (information security) and ISO 22301 (business continuity). Another example of a sector working with a single international standard is ISO 13485 (medical devices), which is adopted by the International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF). In 2020, Fairtrade International , and in 2021, Programme for

270-404: Is always useful or correct. For example, if an item complies with a certain standard, there is not necessarily assurance that it is fit for any particular use. The people who use the item or service (engineers, trade unions, etc.) or specify it (building codes, government, industry, etc.) have the responsibility to consider the available standards, specify the correct one, enforce compliance, and use

297-672: Is an established norm or requirement for a repeatable technical task which is applied to a common and repeated use of rules, conditions, guidelines or characteristics for products or related processes and production methods, and related management systems practices. A technical standard includes definition of terms; classification of components; delineation of procedures; specification of dimensions, materials, performance, designs, or operations; measurement of quality and quantity in describing materials, processes, products, systems, services, or practices; test methods and sampling procedures; or descriptions of fit and measurements of size or strength. It

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324-554: Is monitored by market-facing organizations present in countries where Fairtrade certified products are sold; market data is consolidated by Fairtrade International on an annual basis. These data form a basis for understanding the dynamics of how certification is developing, and how the impacts of Fairtrade are being distributed between producer organizations, geographies and products. Fairtrade's governance bodies also review key results and evaluate regularly in order to improve strategy and decision-making. These results are publicised within

351-646: Is usually a formal document that establishes uniform engineering or technical criteria, methods, processes, and practices. In contrast, a custom, convention, company product, corporate standard, and so forth that becomes generally accepted and dominant is often called a de facto standard. A technical standard may be developed privately or unilaterally, for example by a corporation, regulatory body, military, etc. Standards can also be developed by groups such as trade unions and trade associations. Standards organizations often have more diverse input and usually develop voluntary standards: these might become mandatory if adopted by

378-583: The WTO does not rule out the possibility that the actions of private standard-setting bodies may be subject to WTO law. BSI Group compared private food safety standards with "plugs and sockets", explaining the food sector is full of "confusion and complexity". Also, "the multiplicity of standards and assurance schemes has created a fragmented and inefficient supply chain structure imposing unnecessary costs on businesses that have no choice but to pass on to consumers". BSI provide examples of other sectors working with

405-468: The Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) issued position statements defending their use of private standards in response to reports from The Institute for Multi-Stakeholder Initiative Integrity (MSI Integrity) and Greenpeace. Private standards typically require a financial contribution in terms of an annual fee from the organizations who adopt the standard. Corporations are encouraged to join

432-662: The Fair Trade Certified Mark on their products. The Fair Trade Certified Mark in the United States was introduced by TransFair USA on the American market in 1998. In 2012 a variation of the US Fair Trade certification mark was adopted with the benefit of being registered globally as a trade mark. The mark is designed to pop better on the shelf through a far simpler design and the use of color. The one basket with outstretched hands indicates sharing and

459-523: The Fairtrade organisation for the right to use the Fairtrade certification logo. Importers of Fairtrade certified products must pay exporters a price higher than the market price for non-Fairtrade certified products to cover additional costs borne by Fairtrade certified firms in marketing and inspection. Any surplus after paying these costs must be used for local social, environmental, and economic projects. Fairtrade develops private standards that aid

486-463: The Fairtrade system and among relevant stakeholders for further discussion of findings and recommendations. The Fairtrade Foundation does not monitor how much of the premium paid to exporters reaches farmers. As the cooperatives incur heavy fees on inspection, certification and marketing, only a small amount of money is retained for the farmers. In general, Fairtrade producers are only able to sell 18% to 37% of their output as Fairtrade certified while

513-561: The Minimum Price and the Premium. These are paid to the exporters according to the proportion of output companies are able to sell with the brand 'Fairtrade Certified', typically ranging from 17% to 60% of their turnover. The Fairtrade system committed to a programme of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), which aims at generating recommendations and analysis in support of greater effectiveness and impact. Ongoing market progress

540-443: The board of governance of the standard owner which enables reciprocity. Meaning corporations have permission to exert influence over the requirements in the standard, and in return the same corporations promote the standards in their supply chains which generates revenue and profit for the standard owner. Financial incentives with private standards can result in a perverse incentive , where some private standards are created solely with

567-461: The development of a technical standard, private standards adopt a non-consensus process in comparison to voluntary consensus standards. This is explained in the paper International standards and private standards . The International Trade Centre published a literature review series with technical papers on the impacts of private standards and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published

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594-737: The fair trade industry for profit and not so much for the lives of the small farmers. At this point they are trying to increase the supply of fair trade when the supply is already far beyond the demand. Concerns around Fairtrade certification were raised by the Institute for Multi-Stakeholder Initiative Integrity, with conclusions from their "Not Fit for Purpose" report that private sector led multi-stakeholder initiatives adopt weak or narrow standards that better serve corporate interests than rights holder interests. Fairtrade responded to explain private standards are no substitute for public regulation. Technical standard A technical standard

621-401: The international trading system. It creates social and economic opportunities through trading partnerships with marginalised farmers and craftspeople in developing countries so that more customers are accessible to their products and they receive a favorable deal. In return, the producers must comply with the standards set by the certifying authority. Packers in developed countries pay a fee to

648-411: The item correctly. Validation of suitability is necessary. Standards often get reviewed, revised and updated on a regular basis. It is critical that the most current version of a published standard be used or referenced. The originator or standard writing body often has the current versions listed on its web site. In social sciences , including economics , a standard is useful if it is a solution to

675-424: The leverage to bargain with the cooperatives. Corruption even occurs in some cases. Fairtrade certified products sold through a monopsonist cooperative may be inefficient and prone to corruption. Fairtrade farmers should have the right to choose the buyer who offers the best price, or switch when their cooperatives are going bankrupt. A monopsonist cooperative in charge of Fairtrade certification may try to grow

702-410: The rest is sold as uncertified at market prices. Fair Trade is profitable for traders in rich countries rather than those in poor countries. In order to qualify as Fairtrade producers, cooperatives must meet the strict standards set by certifiers which implies that their constituent farmers must be quite skillful and educated. However, these farmers are predominantly from the poorest countries and lack

729-565: The sustainable development of some smaller producers and agricultural workers in third world countries . In order to become certified Fairtrade producers, the cooperatives and their farmers have to comply with private standards set by Fairtrade International. FLOCERT inspects and certifies producer organizations in more than 70 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The standards set for different stakeholders are as follows: The Fairtrade system consists of two types of pricing:

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