Fair Trade Certified « Leaf Certified

For detailed information regarding Fair Trade Certified, please visit:

www.TransFairUSA.org

The Fair Trade Certified Label guarantees consumers that strict economic, social and environmental criteria were met in the production and trade of an agricultural product. Fair Trade Certification is currently available in the U.S. for coffee, tea and herbs, cocoa and chocolate, fresh fruit, flowers, sugar, rice, and vanilla. TransFair USA licenses companies to display the Fair Trade Certified label on products that meet strict international Fair Trade standards.

TransFair USA, the third-party certifier of Fair Trade Certified products in the United States, today announced that it is extending the “Fair Trade lifestyle” into cotton clothing, bed and bath products. The first Fair Trade Certified apparel and home goods products are expected to hit U.S. retail shelves in spring 2010.

The new standard extends strong labor protections based on International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions to garment workers in factories and sewing cooperatives. It builds on the success of Fair Trade at the farm level and follows extensive research and collaboration with garment workers, factory managers, non-governmental organization (NGO) advocates, companies and consumers.

For the first time ever, two points of the supply chain – cut-and-sew workers and cotton farmers – will benefit from Fair Trade premiums. U.S. companies that source Fair Trade Certified apparel will pay a percentage on top of the cost of the garment as a Fair Trade premium, which goes directly to factory workers who decide democratically how the funds are spent. Additionally, cotton farmers will earn a guaranteed minimum price and Fair Trade premium to invest in community needs such as schools, health centers and infrastructure.

TransFair USA and Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) collaborate to ensure that the chain of custody is tracked from the farm to the finished product. FLO certifies cotton producers and audits processors (such as ginners and spinners) against Fairtrade standards, and TransFair USA certifies the cut-and-sew factory against this new pilot standard.