After Fair Trade USA (FTUSA) left Fairtrade International (FLO), the dominant certifier of Fair Trade products worldwide, on January 1, 2012, businesses and brands faced a new choice about how to participate in the certification of Fair Trade products. Businesses could become licensees, and use the product label, of FTUSA, FLO, both, another certification like IMO’s “Fair for Life” or CLAC’s Small Producer Symbol, or none. An era of significant competition greatly accelerated between certifiers and labels in Fair Trade.
FLO invited businesses who had been registered with FTUSA while FTUSA had been FLO’s sole representative in the U.S., to register as licensees by May 31 or become de-registered. This week, FLO announced the names of some of the brands that have registered with FLO. Of course, businesses can join and leave any certification system at any time, so current lists are not permanent.
See U.S. brands registered with FLO
See businesses registered with FTUSA, including brands, manufacturers and traders
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