For those of you who moved to the US from the UK or Australia: I know what’s been keeping you up at night. You’re wondering why the US fair trade certification label (left) is so uncute.
I don’t blame ya. Look at the logo used in the UK and Australia (right). Much prettier and more colorful, yet simple enough to be incorporated into cappuccino foam (see my banner for ex).
Why do the countries have different logos, you ask? Cuz different organizations do the certifications in different countries. For Britain, it’s the Fairtrade Foundation. And for the US, it’s TransFair USA.
In fact, 20 fair trade labeling initiatives are part of the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO-International), which serves as an umbrella organization for all of these different labellers.
Which is why the anonymous commenter, aka “get it straight please!” got so pissed about my using the TransFair USA logo on my last post about Nestle. To be clear, Nestle’s fair trade certified blend — Partner’s Blend — is only avaliable in the UK and was certified by UK’s Fairtrade Foundation, and thus carries the prettier seal.
Meaning TransFair USA has not certified any product of Nestle’s.
Yet. UK’s Fairtrade Federation may be a separate organization, but it has set a precedent of sorts for other FLO-International members.
But back to the fair trade labels themselves. We don’t have 20 different logos, but we still have enough of them to make it confusing. So confusing, in fact, that FLO lists “Why do so many different Fairtrade labels exist?” as one of the questions in its FAQ.
Which is why I was happy to read on the FLO-International website today that “FLO has started the process of harmo-nising the different Labels into one International Image.”
Cuz, not surprisingly, “The National Initiatives and FLO have recognised the need for a single logo for a long while, mainly for two reasons: it increases clarity for consumers and it makes cross-border trade easier.”
And that common logo’s gonna be the pretty one, currently used in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, maybe some other countries, and in the green LA girl banner.
It seems it’ll take a lil while for the pretty logo to conquer the other logos. Still, I’m looking forward to it — It’ll take away the impetus for angry comments from the likes of “get it straight please!” — demanding not only that I stop confusing “stakeholders and consumers” but also that I get a new banner for my blog. Jeez.
Update, 2/1/06: Now I hear from TransFair USA that “At the moment, the plan is for the UK, EU, and ANZACS to have the same logo, while the US, Canada, and Mexico will keep theirs.” Damn!
one problem that has been cropping up is cross-market products and their manufacturers. many Australian or UK/EU manufacturers think they can just export their local NI-approved product into the US market and not have to worry about it any more. this creates problems for the tracking and auditing of the supply chain that makes Fair Trade Certification so good, important, and robust. if we in the US don’t know what’s coming in from where, how do we know what FTC products are being sold, how much, from where etc. having a different label in the US from the UK of EU or Canada has actually helped as the more consciencious manufactureres have checked to see if they need to change the label. lastly, i think it would be a major mistake for the TransFair USA to convert over to the FLO logo as the black & white Fair Trade Certified “bucket boy” is gaining recognition. the last thing we need to do is put another label into a marketplace that is already cluttered with social/environmental labels. do you think it would be good for Fair Trade Certified in the US if after years of hard work to get the current logo recodnized it had to change?
it would be a major pain in the tuchus as well-you’d be asking over 500 companies with thousands of products to change labels, marketing materials, websites, etc.
Comment by Anonymous — January 26, 2006 @ 6:40 pm
It’s a bucket BOY? All this time I thought it was a green gal like myself…
More serious commentary later, apres le vin.
Comment by Siel — January 26, 2006 @ 6:49 pm
Why not? change logo once and for all…companies do this all the time, don’t they? to bring about newer fresher more professional image :-) Cheers. I hope all FT labels are going to be the same across the world…for one same movement we’re fighting here.
Comment by Maya — January 27, 2006 @ 7:40 am
Ok — It looks like the FLO site misled me a bit. I hear from TransFair that the bucket boy will remain –
Comment by Siel — February 2, 2006 @ 8:33 pm
A very superficial comment: Quite frankly, I think the transfair logo beats out the european logo anyday. What more beautiful than the bucket boy. The symbolism in the logo is so thick that it makes a San Francisco fog look like a smoke signal. Plus black and white add for simplistic printing (sure has made advocacy cheap).
Comment by Viraf — February 25, 2006 @ 11:40 am