THE INTERNAL

MONITORING SYSTEM

(IMS)

WHY IS IT NEEDED?

WHY DO WE NEED AN IMS FOR THE GUARANTEE SYSTEM?

• We need to ensure that Fair Trade is happening on the ground

• End producers are target of Fair Trade

• If we are not sure that end producers are benefitting from FT then

we cannot claim their products are ‘’Fair Trade”

• Therefore cannot put a label on product without this

• Also about checking on suppliers’ perceptions of our FT practice i.e.

are we doing what we say we are doing?

ACCOUNTABILITY This describes how your

organization works in the context of Fair Trade

The IMS follows your Mission Describes how and why you are

doing what you are doing

ACCOUNTABILITY

Goal: Organizational consistency &

comprehension Holds yourself accountable Simple & Clear Enables feedback Easy to share

DEFINITION

This is a Fair Trade Organization’s own system to monitor all unverified suppliers to verify

that they comply with the 10 core Fair Trade principles (Chapter 6.3.1)

Unverified Supplier

Supplier

Verified Supplier

A vendor of (semi) finished products

Suppliers only monitored under your IMS

Suppliers recognized by:(Chapter 6.3.2)

• ECOcert• FLO• FUNDeppo• IMO/Fair For Life• Naturaland * Make a recommendation to recognize another scheme to the GS committee

RAW MATERIALS

Will not be monitored against in the audit.

This does not mean that you should take no responsibility.

WFTO is Guaranteeing the FTO not the product

Photo Credit: Better Cotton Initatives

Raw material should originate from sustainable or least

environmentally impacting sources.* Refer to SAR 3.13, 10.3 *

DO I NEED AN IMS?

Is your organization a….

• Producer Organization (PO) that has producers working at their own homes?• PO that also makes products + buys products from another supplier? • Marketing Organization (MO)?• Fair Trade Support or Network Organization that has a trading component?

Is your organization a…

• PO that only produces products in your FTO production unit?• Fair Trade Support or Network Organization that does not conduct trade?

YES!

Technically no…

But yet, if you are a Fair Trade Organization in WFTO we still encourage you to have an IMS in place

EVERYONE

GROUP ACTIVITY

In pairs discuss how do you currently

monitor suppliers?

HOW DOES WFTO CHECK YOUR IMS?

WFTO & YOUR IMS

• In your Self Assessment you need to fill in the Supplier Monitoring form and have the records from your Internal Monitoring System available for peers and auditors to check.

• First section of SAR also has your assessment of your IMS

• The Monitoring Audit checks your IMS records

• Percentage of your unverified suppliers will also have a supplier verification visit by a local auditor.

START

WHERE DO WE START?

Where do we start?!

SAFFY EXAMPLE

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART EXAMPLE

…ZOOMED IN

Internal Status

Raw Material

Producer Groups

Locations

Number of individuals

Internal notes: what is

checked during visits

improvement

IMS should cover two

areas:

INTERNAL | EXTERNAL

1) Internal policies &

implementation

2) Supply Chain policies &

implementation

MANDATORY COMPLIANCE:

• Minimally, site visit to production area 1x every…

• Includes interview and discussion with producers

• Visit to home and farm (if applicable)

• Monitor understands FT principles and SAR compliance criteria

• Monitor evaluates and document findings

• Demonstrate follow up on identified needs for improvement

WHAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED?

Visit

Discussion

Expertise

Document

Follow-up

3 years for MO | 2 years for PO

SEE HANDOUT

Use the handout to start crafting your own IMS

IMS DOCUMENT

PUT IN PLACE:

• Risk Assessment

• Producer agreement

• Product orders

• Compliance manual

• Social Review

• Improvement Action Plan

• Visits

• Embedding the 10 FT Principles

• Wage Interview

UNVERIFIED PRODUCER GROUPS

SEE HANDOUT

VISIT RECORD

Use the handout as a guide to creating your own IMS visit report.

Tip: • User friendly• Easy to transfer to the GS documents

PUSHPANJALI EXAMPLE

PUSHPANJALI EXAMPLE

IN THE PROFILE

IN THE SAR

All Suppliers that are monitored for FT (by your or

someone else)

Suppliers that are not

monitored

Suppliers in your IMS

IN THE SAR

Q&A

Q&A – PROFILE AND SAR SPECIFIC

THE END