A roundup of all my posts about current challenges in Fair Trade certification, to be updated as new ones are written — Mainly cuz I don’t wanna make a boo boo and write about the same stuff twice.

For those new to fair trade, TransFair USA is the nonprofit org that provides the fair trade certified sticker for US products (left). Other orgs and companies are described in part I. Start there, and welcome to the fair trade movement :)

And for more on what TFUSA’s and other certification labels mean, go here.

Certification challenges, part I. This post’ll give you a broad overview of who’s who and what’s what in the fair trade movement, kicking off a series of posts inspired by a panel at the United Students for Fair Trade (USFT) convergence in Feb. 2006.

Certification challenges, part II: Dancing with the devil. A frivolous post about the fun we had drinking and dancing the night before the panel at the USFT convergence :)

Certification challenges, part III: Fair Trade figleafs. Almost all fair trade activists say transnational companies can participate in the fair trade movement — but pretty much everyone who spoke at the USFT convergence argued for more strict, binding and public conditions and guidelines.

Certification challenges, part IV: What about the farmers?. A discussion about fair trade can end up being a bunch of non-farmers trying to speak for farmers. Of course, money plays a role for all of us in this capitalist culture. But we can’t expect others’ needs, wants, and greeds to always coincide with our own.

Certification challenges, part V: Why TransFair USA loves Starbucks. Starbucks’ licensing fees accounted for roughly 14% of ALL of TransFair USA’s total revenues.

Certification challenges, part VI: Presong Seesa-Ard’s comments. Julia of Equal Exchange took better notes than I did :P An elaboration on Thai rice farmer Presong Seesa-Ard’s comments at the USFT conference.

Certification challenges, part VII: Global Exchange. Back in 2003, when Global Exchange called on Starbucks to do more fair trade certified coffee, TransFair USA came out against Global Exchange.

Certification challenges, part VIII: In defense of TransFair USA. The conundrum in terms of big, international companies: Activists and smaller companies ask why TFUSA isn’t using stricter guidelines with the bigger companies, while TFUSA says it doesn’t have that kind of bargaining clout.

Certification challenges, part IX: But we’re better than the fair trade label! Not all the blame falls on TFUSA. Some mission-based companies have used tactics that seem more unnecessarily divisive than helpful for the fair trade movement.

Certification challenges, part X: The two sides of my brain need to have a meeting. Enough finger pointing — How can we best work together to mitigate the coffee crisis? And what SPECIFIC changes are necessary in the way fair trade certification’s done today to further those goals? What, to YOU, would constitute a SERIOUS commitment to fair trade from the big corps?

Certification challenges, part XI: TransFair USA answers critiques. TFUSA puts out a FAQ addressing questions that’ve come up about fair trade certification. I love TFUSA’s effort to respond to concerns — Though I’m still not convinced that big corps aren’t getting too much leeway.

Certification challenges XII: The 5% question. When talking about big companies’ reluctance to ramp up their fair trade commitments, activists will often point to a 5% commitment. Where did the 5% argument come from?

Certification challenges XIII: 5% — requirement vs. recommendation. A more detailed answer re: the 5% question from Rodney of Equal Exchange.

Certification challenges, part XIV: Negotiating fair trade. Regardless, one thing I’ve been interested in is organizing and lobbying by mission-based coffee roasters.

Certification challenges, part XV: Riding on the coattails. Some non-fair-trade coffee companies use the arguments of mission-based coffee companies as an excuse for not practicing fair trade.

Certification Challenges, part XVI: A Fixable problem? Fair trade committed companies want TransFair USA to really listen to the issues these companies are bringing up, instead of catering overmuch to big corporations.

Certification Challenges, part XVII: Fair trade minimums. The minimum fair trade price for coffee hasn’t changed for 16 years — despite inflation –

Minimum price for fair trade certified coffee goes up. Starting June 1, 2008, fair trade coffee co-ops will get a 5 cent per pound raise. This decision brings the base price per pound of fair trade coffee to $1.25.* That means fair trade coffee co-ops will get $1.35 per pound of conventional coffee ($1.25 fair trade minimum price + mandatory 10 cent social premium). For organic coffee, fair trade coffee co-ops will get $1.55 per pound ($1.25 fair trade minimum price + 10 cent social premium + 20 cent organic differential).

A v. fair trade company returns to fair trade certification. Dean’s Beans decides to rejoin TransFair’s roster of fair trade licensed roasters. One company that took the fair trade certification logo off its bag — saying that the certification standards had gotten too watered down — is now embracing the logo again.

Accusations of Fair Trade Lite, part I. The basic argument goes thusly: Fair trade certification’s watered down, so you need to look beyond the label and support the REALLY fair trade companies. Here’s my problem with that argument.

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