There are a number of good reasons why a product might not carry the Mark:
- FLO may not have developed criteria for that product type: this is particularly the case for non-food items such as fair trade crafts, but can also apply to specific food ingredients.
- The product may contain fair trade ingredients, but not a sufficient proportion to justify carrying the Mark on the whole product.
- Producer groups may not be registered with FLO as producers of Fairtrade products. This may be because they are too small to justify the costs of certification, or because they are still in the process of working, with the support of a fair trade organisation, towards meeting Fairtrade standards. This may be necessary to get an impoverished community into the fair trade system.
If a product does not carry a Fairtrade Mark, you therefore need to think carefully about how far you trust the credentials of the selling organisation.
Traidcraft, for example, has its own Purchasing Policy to ensure that we operate under rigorous fair trade criteria even if the Mark is not available to verify this on some product categories, or for situations where we are wanting to operate in circumstances where Fairtrade criteria are unlikely to be met for a period.
Other dedicated fair trade organisations will have similar sets of standards, and many will be members of IFAT – the International Fair Trade Association, which has its own processes for determining organisations’ commitment to fair trade principles.
However, it is also possible that a false claim is being made, and that a company is not carrying the Fairtrade mark on a product in order to avoid the scrutiny of the certification process.
Consumers should therefore be wary of claims made by companies that are not dedicated fair trade organisations, particularly if claims are being made in relation to products that could carry the Fairtrade mark.
