A Bit About Fairtrade

Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. By requiring companies to pay sustainable prices, Fairtrade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers. It enables them to improve their position and have more control over their lives.

By choosing products carrying the FAIRTRADE Label, consumers can support farmers, their families and communities in receiving more stable and secure incomes, better working conditions, and enhance dinvestment in quality and local environmental sustainability.

For a product to display the FAIRTRADE 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 the Fairtrade Association ANZ.

Fairtrade Certification and Labelling is undertaken by a worldwide network of non-government organisations pursuing Fairtrade through the certification and labelling of products, such as coffee, tea and chocolate. A product is Fairtrade Certified if it carries the FAIRTRADE Label, providing an easy way for consumers to recognise and choose products that meet agreed environmental, labour and developmental standards.

(read more at http://www.fta.org.au/about)