Last week, The New York Times ran a story on the rupture between Fair Trade USA and Fairtrade International and its implications for the Fair Trade movement. In my post on the story, I noted that the reporter made a confusing reference to our role in the coffee certification process:
“For consumers who pay attention to where their food comes from and how it is produced, the result could be confusion as they try to sort through a proliferation of competing fair trade labels with differing claims. The logo overload will include a redesigned Fair Trade USA seal; a Fairtrade International seal, which previously did not appear in this country; and labels from smaller programs, like one run by Catholic Relief Services.”
Today, my colleagues from our Fair Trade Program in the United States issued a detailed statement clarifying the uses of the CRS Fair Trade logo and our role in promoting the expansion of Fair Trade in the U.S. market.
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For more on FTUSA’s decision to break away from FLO, its Fair Trade for All vision and the implications for smallholder farmers, click here.