Blogging Fair Trade

When I am not working for By Hand and doing my utmost to spread the fair trade word, I have a second life in which my days are spent with language. As such, it seems entirely appropriate that I write a blog about spelling.

There are two ways of writing fair trade – or fairtrade - and neither constitutes a mispelt word (although my spell-check appears to think that fairtrade is incorrect). In fact, the two different ways of spelling fair trade actually have two slightly different contexts:

The Fairtrade Foundation is the UK’s fairtrade labelling organisation. They are the guys in charge of the Fairtrade Mark in the UK and they represent the UK within the International Fairtrade Labelling Organisation, or the FLO.  They are the pioneers of fairtrade in the UK. They work with the FLO to make up the rules of what makes a product fairtrade, what companies have to do to be able to claim that their products are fairtrade, and how producers need to be treated in order to guarantee fairtrade certification. They own fairtrade (in the non-literal sense) and every product that carries the Fairtrade Mark is a fairtrade product.

Fair trade, on the other hand, has a broader existence: It is a concept of trade that benefits everyone in the supply chain, including the producers. It is a philosophy of cooperation and a movement that is demonstrating that there is no need to exploit and no room for the bullying tactics of those with the power/money. Fair trade has its own rules, as defined by the World Fair Trade Organisation* (or WFTO for short), and its own products. They do not carry the Fairtrade Mark, but they are fair trade because they have been created in line with the rules of fair trade, as stipulated by the WFTO.

Fair trade products and fairtrade products are equally fantastic. Both make a massive difference to the lives of the producers by the very nature of their existence. Fair trade is not better than fairtrade and vice versa. The simple difference is this: Fairtrade means it is recognised as fairtrade by the Fairtrade Foundation; fair trade means it fulfils the principles of fair trade stipulated by the WFTO.

* The WFTO is a global, democratic organisation that has been driving the global fair trade movement for the past 20 years. It’s members have a 100% commitment to fair trade and are monitored to ensure that they conform to the 10 principles of fair trade (see above). Members include producers, artisans and fair trade retailers.