Fair­trade Labelling Orga­ni­za­tions Inter­na­tional (FLO) is part of a world­wide net­work of Fair Trade orga­ni­za­tions actively involved in sup­port­ing pro­duc­ers, aware­ness rais­ing and cam­paign­ing for changes in the rules and prac­tices of con­ven­tional inter­na­tional trade.

Fair­trade Labelling Orga­ni­za­tions Inter­na­tional (FLO) is an umbrella orga­ni­za­tion that unites 20 Labelling Ini­tia­tives in 21 coun­tries and Pro­ducer Net­works rep­re­sent­ing Fair­trade Cer­ti­fied Pro­ducer Orga­ni­za­tions in Latin Amer­ica, Africa and Asia.

FLO is the lead­ing stan­dard set­ting and cer­ti­fi­ca­tion orga­ni­za­tion for labelled Fair­trade. Prod­ucts carry the Fair­trade Cer­ti­fi­ca­tion Mark as the inde­pen­dent con­sumer guar­an­tee that pro­duc­ers in the devel­op­ing world get a bet­ter deal.

Fair­trade Cer­ti­fied Prod­ucts have helped build eco­nomic inde­pen­dence and empow­er­ment for Fair­trade Cer­ti­fied small farmer orga­ni­za­tions and their mem­bers, bring­ing them eco­nomic sta­bil­ity and a higher stan­dard of liv­ing. Beyond being paid a fair price (Fair­trade Min­i­mum Price) for their pro­duce, the Fair­trade Pre­mium helps pro­duc­ers to build nec­es­sary social infra­struc­ture of which the fol­low­ing are only some of the examples:

* Improved access to low or no-interest loans
* Tech­ni­cal assis­tance for build­ing infra­struc­ture to improve pro­duc­tion
* Com­mu­ni­ca­tions sys­tems, and collectively-owned trans­port and pro­cess­ing equip­ment
* Bet­ter health care and edu­ca­tion
* Tech­ni­cal train­ing and skill diver­si­fi­ca­tion for coop­er­a­tive mem­bers and their families

Cur­rently, FLO facil­i­tates the sus­tain­able devel­op­ment and empow­er­ment of dis­ad­van­taged pro­duc­ers and work­ers in 59 countries.

What is Fair Trade?

Fair Trade is a trad­ing part­ner­ship, based on dia­logue, trans­parency and respect, that seeks greater equity in inter­na­tional trade. It con­tributes to sus­tain­able devel­op­ment by offer­ing bet­ter trad­ing con­di­tions to, and secur­ing their rights of, dis­ad­van­taged pro­duc­ers and work­ers — espe­cially in the South. Fair Trade orga­ni­za­tions (backed by con­sumers) are actively engaged in sup­port­ing pro­duc­ers in aware­ness rais­ing and in cam­paign­ing for changes in the rules and prac­tices of con­ven­tional inter­na­tional trade.

Fair Trade’s strate­gic intent is:

* Delib­er­ately to work with mar­gin­al­ized pro­duc­ers and work­ers in order to help them move from a posi­tion of vul­ner­a­bil­ity to secu­rity and eco­nomic self-sufficiency.
* To empower pro­duc­ers and work­ers as stake­hold­ers in their own orga­ni­za­tions;
* Actively to play a wider role in the global arena to achieve greater equity in inter­na­tional trade.

Sources: fairtrade.net

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