What is Fair trade?

The Fair-trade Foundation is the independent non-profit organization that licenses use of the FAIRTRADE Mark on products in the UK in accordance with internationally agreed Fair-trade standards.  The Foundation was established in 1992.

Definition of Fair Trade

Role of Fair Trade•Providing an independent certification of the trade chain, licensing use of the FAIRTRADE Mark as a consumer guarantee on products •Facilitating the market to grow demand for Fair-trade and enable producers to sell to traders and retailers •Working with our partners to support producer organizations and their networks •Raising public awareness of the need for Fair-trade and the importance of the FAIRTRADE Mark

Sign TransFair USA's Fair Trade Coffee License Agreement to license you to display TransFair USA's Fair Trade Certified label on your Fair Trade products and materials. Purchase Fair Trade Certified coffee from importers licensed by TransFair USA. Submit quarterly reports to TransFair of Fair Trade Certified green coffee purchases and roasted sales. Pay a certification fee to TransFair USA based on Fair Trade Certified green purchases.

How to be part of fair trade

Facts about Fair trade

How Much•$2.6 billion - amount of total fair trade sales in 2006 according to the International Fair Trade Association •$160+ million - amount of total FTF member sales in 2006, according to the Fair Trade Federation

•93% - growth in the global fair trade cocoa sector in 2006, according to the Fair Trade Labelling Organization. In 2006, coffee has also grown by 53%; tea by 41%; and, bananas by 31%.

Who•2.7 billion - estimated number of people in the world existing on less than $2 / day, according to the World Bank •800,000+ - households (approximately 5 million people) who earned a living from fair trade production, according to the European Fair Trade Association's January 1998 Memento pour l'an 2000. •30% - women in non-agricultural conventional production in developing countries in 2004, according to the United Nation •70% - women engaged in non-agricultural fair trade production in 2004, according to the Fair Trade Federation •284,000 - number of children in the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon working in hazardous tasks on conventional cocoa farms, according to a 2002 International Institute of Tropical Agriculture study directly involving 4,500+ producers. •15,000 - number of children aged 9 to 12 in the Ivory Coast alone who have been sold into forced labor on conventional cotton, coffee, and cocoa plantations, according to a 2000 US State Department report

 Comparing Conventional and Fair Trade in Coffee•2 cents - amount farmers on conventional farms receive from the average $3 latte, according to Transfer USA •10 cents - amount of social premium paid on top of the per kilo price to fair trade certified coffee farmers, according to Fair-trade Labeling Organization standards •20 cents - amount of social premium paid on top of the per kilo price to fair trade certified coffee farmers for organic coffee, according to Fair-trade Labeling Organization standards

Other Factors•$70 billion - amount African countries could generate if their share of world exports increased by 1% - approximately five times what the continent receives in aid - according to Oxfam International's Make Trade Fair Report. •30 cents of every $1 - amount of foreign investment that ends up back in donor countries through profit transfers, according to Oxfam International's Make Trade Fair Report. •$13 billion - total amount required to provide basic education and nutrition in all developing countries, according to the 2005 UNICEF State of the World's Children Report •$25 billion - amount spent annually on US farm subsidies, according to a 2007 Heritage Foundation report •$40-70 billion - amount required to meet all eight Millennium Development Goals by 2015, according to the United Nations

Products of Fair trade

Sugar program

•The US is an important sugar grower, growing over 80% of our domestic consumption. But the small amount of sugar that we do import is grown by impoverished sugar cane farmers in the developing world, subject to a declining world market price, environmental degradation, and hazardous working conditions.

•Fair Trade certification ensures that sugar cane farmers receive a fair price for their harvest, creates direct trade links between farmer-owned cooperatives and buyers, and provides access to affordable credit. Through Fair Trade, farmers and their families are earning a better income for their hard work-allowing them to hold on to their land, keep their kids in school, and invest in the quality of their harvest.

Large amounts of herbicides and pesticides are commonly sprayed on to sugar cane crops. Burning and processing of sugar crops can also cause serious pollution of the ground, waterways and the air. On Fair Trade farms, producers must adhere to strict standards regarding the use and handling of pesticides, the protection of natural waters, virgin forest and other ecosystems of high ecological value, and the management of erosion and waste.

Selling at Fair Trade prices enables small sugar farmers to pay for organic certification and training in sustainable agriculture techniques. Paraguay and Costa Rica grow organic Fair Trade Certified sugar cane.

Environmental Friendly

Fair Trade helps family farmers in developing countries to gain direct access to international markets, as well as to develop the business capacity necessary to compete in the global marketplace. By learning how to market their own harvests, Fair Trade farmers are able to bootstrap their businesses and receive a fair price for their products, including your morning brew. Today's historic lows in world coffee prices have created a crisis for millions of farmers around the world. Most small-scale family farmers live in remote locations, and are dependent on local middlemen (known as "coyotes" in Latin America) to purchase their coffee, often at a fraction of its worth. Fair Trade guarantees farmers a set minimum price for their coffee and links farmer-run cooperatives directly with US importers, cutting out middlemen and creating the conditions for long-term sustainability.

Coffee

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