A. About 80%. Organic certification costs money, and some farmers choose to grow crop using organic agriculture, but choose to pay for Fair Trade certification over organic certification. Some choose both.

A. No - Fair Trade farmers on average sell only 20% of their crop at Fair Trade terms, selling the rest through the world market at much lower prices. The same is true for artisans, which is why the building a market for Fair Trade is so critical! 
(Source: Global Exchange)

A. United Students for Fair Trade – This energetic organization is really taking the message to the streets and to their administrations! Check out our feature article in a previous edition of Fair Grounds and visit their website at www.usft.org to learn more.

A. 60-70%...who are often mothers and the sole wage earners in the home. (Source: www.fairtradefederation.org)

A. Just .01%. (Source: www.fairtradefederation.org)

A. Yes - quite rapidly! According to the 2003 Fair Trade Trends Report published by the Fair Trade Federation and the International Fair Trade Association, the fair trade industry in North America and the Pacific Rim grew over 35% last year. Coffee is actually the fastest growing sector - with sales up over 50%. For more details and a link to the detailed report, visit http://www.coopamerica.org/newsroom/
releases/091003.htm

Q. Which fair trade organization just successfully launched a new label and promoted it with a world tour?

A. The International Fair Trade Association (www.IFAT.org) is a global network of fair trade organizations based in Oxford, England. The organization is composed of over 200 members in 55 countries from countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, North America, Australasia and the Pacific Rim.

For more info on the label: http://www.ifat.org/theftomark/thelaunch.html

IFAT's members are producer co-operatives and associations, export marketing companies, importers, retailers, national and regional Fair Trade networks and financial institutions, dedicated to the Fair Trade movement. In short, the IFAT network represents the whole Fair Trade chain from product to sale.

IFAT's mission is to improve the livelihoods and well being of disadvantaged producers by linking and promoting Fair Trade Organizations, and speaking out for greater justice in world trade.

A. Fair trade organizations provide critical technical assistance and support such as market information, product feedback and training in financial management. Unlike commercial importers, fair trade organizations establish long term relationships with their producers and help them adapt production to changing trends.

A. Max Havelaar is the protagonist in a Dutch novel written by Multatuli (the pen name of Eduard Douwes Dekker), first published in 1860. In the novel, Max Havelaar tries to battle against a corrupt government system in Java, which was a Dutch colony at a time. The character's name was adopted by the Max Havelaar Foundation, a fair trade labeling organization based in the Netherlands.

Q. Why doesn't the fair trade community support free trade agreements like NAFTA and FTAA?

A. Fair traders are often accused of being "anti-trade" because we don't typically support these multi-lateral trade agreements. If you think about it, this is actually a rather silly accusation. We love trade -- our mission is to promote trade -- it's what we do! But we support trade with guidelines ensuring that the producers or workers were not exploited. All participants in the fair trade model should benefit from the transaction and all are held accountable for their actions through transparency agreements and long-term partnership. Historically, people or communities traded because one produced a product that the other desired. In today's global culture, the trade equation can look very different. Companies often close a manufacturing facility located in the consuming market and re-open the facility in a developing country in order to use weak environmental laws and cheap labor to produce a less expensive product. Then they "trade" this product with the consuming country. Trade agreements like NAFTA and FTAA pave the way for this behavior - and we oppose them!

A. Fairtrade Labelling Organization (FLO) is a worldwide Fairtrade Standard setting and certification organization. FLO maintains a registry of more 200 cooperatives representing over 800,000 producers and their dependants in more than 40 countries. Fairtrade Labelling started in the Netherlands, where coffee was the first labelled product. The Dutch label is called 'Max Havelaar', after a best-selling 19th century book about the exploitation of Javanese coffee plantation workers by Dutch colonial merchants. After this first initiative, other national Fairtrade labellers soon followed, some using the same name, others introducing new names, like TransFair, Fairtrade Foundation and Rattvisemarkt. At present, there are 17 Fairtrade Labelling Initiatives under one umbrella organisation, FLO-International. There are Fairtrade Labels on dozens of different products, based on FLO's certification for coffee, tea, rice, bananas, mangoes, cocoa, sugar, honey, fruit juices and footballs and even cut flowers are currently under consideration and might soon follow. FLO is constantly expanding and should soon include other fresh fruit, wines, nuts and oils and in the years to come more non-food products as well.

A. The Fair Trade Federation, or FTF www.fairtradefederation.org, is an association of fair trade wholesalers, retailers, and producers whose members are committed to providing fair wages and good employment opportunities to economically disadvantaged artisans and farmers worldwide. In order to join the association, a company must successfully complete a rigorous peer review process demonstrating their commitment to the principles of fair trade.

The Fair Trade Resource Network, or FTRN www.fairtraderesource.org, is a non-profit organization which focuses on raising consumer awareness for fair trade. The FTRN evolved out of the FTF in 2001 in order to focus efforts on consumer education. The two organizations continue to work together to support the rapidly growing fair trade movement.

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