Fairtrade Canada, formerly TransFair Canada, is a national non-profit certification and public education organization promoting Fairtrade certified products in Canada to improve the livelihood of developing world farmers and workers. It is the Canadian member of FLO International, which unites 24 fair trade producer and certification initiatives across Europe, Asia, Latin America, North America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
How Fairtrade works
With Fairtrade coffee, for instance, packers in developed countries pay a fee to The Fairtrade Foundation for the right to use the brand and logo, and nearly all the fee goes on marketing. Packers and retailers can charge as much as they want for the coffee. The coffee has to come from a certified Fairtrade cooperative, and there is a minimum price when the world market is oversupplied, and 10c per lb extra at other times. The cooperatives can, on average, sell only a third of their output as Fairtrade, because of lack of demand, and sell the rest at world prices.Mohan, S. (2010). Fair Trade Without the Froth - a dispassionate economic analysis of 'Fair Trade'. London: Institute of Economic Affairs.; Kilian, B., Jones, C., Pratt, L., & Villalobos, A.: 2006, ‘Is Sustainable Agriculture a Viable Strategy to Improve Farm Income in Central America? A Case Study on Coffee’, Journal of Business Research, 59 (3), 322–330.; Berndt, C. E.: 2007, Is Fair Trade in coffee production fair and useful? Evidence from Costa Rica and Guatemala and implications for policy. Washington DC.: Mercatus 65 Policy Series, Policy Comment 11, Mercatus Centre, George Mason University.; Kohler, P. (2006), ‘The economics of Fair Trade: for whose benefit? An investigation into the limits of Fair Trade as a development tool and the risk of clean-washing’, HEI Working Papers 06–2007, Geneva: Economics Section, Graduate Institute of International Studies, October; Renard, M. C. and V. P. Grovas (2007), ‘Fair Trade coffee in Mexico: at the center of the debates’, ch. 9 in D. Murray, L. Raynolds and J. Wilkinson (eds), Fair Trade: The Challenges of Transforming Globalisation, London: Routledge. Pp 38-9; Riedel, C. P., F. M. Lopez, A. Widdows, A. Manji and M. Schneider (2005), ‘Impacts of Fair Trade: trade and market linkages’, Proceedings of the 18th International Farming Symposium, 31 October–3 November, Rome: Food and Agricultural Organisation, http://www.fao.org/ farmingsystems; Bacon, C. (2005), ‘Confronting the coffee crisis: can Fair Trade, organic and speciality coffee reduce small-scale farmer vulnerability in northern Nicaragua?’, World Development, 33(3): 497–511; Mohan, S. (2010). Fair Trade Without the Froth - a dispassionate economic analysis of 'Fair Trade'. London: Institute of Economic Affairs.
The exporting cooperative can spend the money in several ways. Some goes on meeting the costs of conformity and certification: as they have to meet Fairtrade standards on all they produce, they have to recover the costs from a small part of their turnover,Berndt, C. E.: 2007, Is Fair Trade in coffee production fair and useful? Evidence from Costa Rica and Guatemala and implications for policy. Washington DC.: Mercatus 65 Policy Series, Policy Comment 11, Mercatus Centre, George Mason University. sometimes as little as 8%,Riedel, C. P., F. M. Lopez, A. Widdows, A. Manji and M. Schneider (2005), ‘Impacts of Fair Trade: trade and market linkages’, Proceedings of the 18th International Farming Symposium, 31 October–3 November, Rome: Food and Agricultural Organisation, http://www.fao.org/ farmingsystems and may not make any profit. Some meets other costs. Some is spent on social projects such as building schools, clinics and baseball pitches. Sometimes there is money left over for the farmers. The cooperatives sometimes pay farmers a higher price than farmers do, sometimes less, but there is no evidence on which is more common.Griffiths, P., ‘Ethical objections to Fairtrade’ Journal of Business Ethics July 2011(DOI) 10.1007/s10551-011-0972-0 www.springerlink.com Accessed at http://www.griffithsspeaker.com/Fairtrade/why_fair_trade_isn.htm In some cases the farmers certainly do not get enough extra to cover their extra costs in conforming to Fairtrade standards. There is little or no research on the extra costs incurred or the extra revenue.
The marketing system for Fairtrade and non-Fairtrade coffee is identical in the consuming countries, using mostly the same importing, packing, distributing and retailing firms. Some independent brands operate a virtual company, paying importers, packers and distributors and advertising agencies to handle their brand, for cost reasons.Davies, I.A. and A Crane, ‘Ethical Decision Making in Fair Trade Companies’, Journal of Business Ethics 45: 79–92, 2003. P84 In the producing country Fairtrade is marketed only by Fairtrade cooperatives, while other coffee is marketed by Fairtrade cooperatives (as uncertified coffee), by other cooperatives and by ordinary traders.Mohan, S. (2010). Fair Trade Without the Froth - a dispassionate economic analysis of 'Fair Trade'. London: Institute of Economic Affairs.; Kilian, B., Jones, C., Pratt, L., & Villalobos, A.: 2006, ‘Is Sustainable Agriculture a Viable Strategy to Improve Farm Income in Central America? A Case Study on Coffee’, Journal of Business Research, 59 (3), 322–330.; Berndt, C. E.: 2007, Is Fair Trade in coffee production fair and useful? Evidence from Costa Rica and Guatemala and implications for policy. Washington DC.: Mercatus 65 Policy Series, Policy Comment 11, Mercatus Centre, George Mason University.; Riedel, C. P., F. M. Lopez, A. Widdows, A. Manji and M. Schneider (2005), ‘Impacts of Fair Trade: trade and market linkages’, Proceedings of the 18th International Farming Symposium, 31 October–3 November, Rome: Food and Agricultural Organisation, http://www.fao.org/ farmingsystems.; Kohler, P. (2006), ‘The economics of Fair Trade: for whose benefit? An investigation into the limits of Fair Trade as a development tool and the risk of clean-washing’, HEI Working Papers 06–2007, Geneva: Economics Section, Graduate Institute of International Studies, October.
To become certified Fairtrade producers, the primary cooperative and its member farmers must operate to certain political standards, imposed from Europe. FLO-CERT, the for-profit side, handles producer certification, inspecting and certifying producer organizations in more than 50 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.FLO-CERT (2008). FLO-CERT . URL accessed on August 1, 2008. In the Fair trade debate there are many complaints of failure to enforce these standards, with producers, cooperatives, importers and packers profiting by evading them.Raynolds, L. T.: 2009, ‘Mainstreaming Fair Trade Coffee: from Partnership to Traceability’, World Development, 37 (6) p1089.; Valkila, J., Haaparanta, P., & Niemi, N.: 2010, ‘Empowering Coffee Traders? The Coffee Value Chain from Nicaraguan Fair Trade Farmers to Finnish Consumers’, Journal of Business Ethics, 97, p264.; Valkila, J.: 2009, ‘Fair Trade organic coffee production in Nicaragua - Sustainable development or a poverty trap?’ Ecological Economics, 68, 3018-3025.; Utting, K.: 2009, ‘Assessing the impact of Fair Trade Coffee: Towards an Integrative Framework’, Journal of Business Ethics, 86, p139.; Valkila, J.: 2009, ‘Fair Trade organic coffee production in Nicaragua - Sustainable development or a poverty trap?’ Ecological Economics, 68, 3022-3023.; Reed, D.: 2009, ‘What do Corporations have to do with Fair Trade? Positive and normative analysis from a value chain perspective’, Journal of Business Ethics, 86, pp 12, 21.; Mohan, S. (2010). Fair Trade Without the Froth - a dispassionate economic analysis of 'Fair Trade'. London: Institute of Economic Affairs. (e.g. p67); Kohler, P. (2006), ‘The economics of Fair Trade: for whose benefit? An investigation into the limits of Fair Trade as a development tool and the risk of clean-washing’, HEI Working Papers 06–2007, Geneva: Economics Section, Graduate Institute of International Studies, October. Jacquiau, C. (2006). Les Coulisees du Commerce Équitable. Paris: Mille et Une Nuits.; Jacquiau, C. (2007). Max Havelaar ou les ambiguïtés du commerce équitable: Pourquoi le Sud rue dans les brancards. Monde Diplomatique September.; ; Weitzman, H. (2006, August 9). ‘Fair’ coffee workers paid below minimum wage. Financial Times .; Weitzman, H. (2006, September 9). ‘'Ethical-coffee’ workers paid below legal minimum. Financial Times .; Weitzman, H.: 2006, The bitter cost of ‘Fair Trade’ coffee. Financial Times, September 8.; Reed, D.: 2009, ‘What do Corporations have to do with Fair Trade? Positive and normative analysis from a value chain perspective’, Journal of Business Ethics, 86, p12.; Moore, G., Gibbon, J., & Slack, R.: 2006, ‘The mainstreaming of Fair Trade: a macromarketing perspective’, Journal of Strategic Marketing, 14, 329-352.
Work
Certification Fairtrade Canada is responsible for certifying that Canadian products bearing the Fairtrade certification marks meet international Fairtrade standards. While the entire certification system monitors supply chains from the producers until the final point of packaging, we are responsible for monitoring and auditing products once they enter Canada, to ensure that what is sold as fair trade certified actually is.
Licensing Fairtrade Canada licenses Canadian companies to use the fair trade certification marks on their products, and as part of that license companies must abide by strict mark-use standards. Fairtrade Canada monitors these licensed organisations to ensure that the markings are not used in a way that is misleading to the public, and work with companies to ensure their use does not undermine the integrity of the marks.
Promotion Fairtrade Canada works alongside community groups, companies, and individual citizens to promote fair trade certified products. Through partnerships, campaigns, promotional materials, events, and media engagement, the organisation works to develop peoples' understanding of fair trade and to build momentum so that more producers can sell more of their products on fair terms.
The following fair trade products are currently certified by Fairtrade Canada and available throughout the country: coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, fresh fruit, grains (rice and quinoa), spices and herbs, cotton, wine, flowers, nuts and oils (shea butter and olive oil), and sports balls.
Fairtrade Canada organizes and coordinates several events every year to promote fair trade in Canada, most notably the Fair Trade Fortnight (or the Quinzaine du Commerce Équitable in French) which typically run in May, and the Canadian Fairtrade Towns campaign.
In 2007, Fairtrade certified sales in Canada amounted to CAD $120 million, a 55% year-to-year increase. Furthermore, in 2005 it was estimated that approximately 27% of the Canadian adult population was aware of fair trade certified coffee, up from 17% in 2003 and 11% in 2001.
Criticisms
Ethical basis of criticisms