FLO
FLO was founded in 1997 as an umbrella-organization for fair trade organizations in Europe and North America, working under the brands Max Havelaar and TransFair.
Operating in more than 20 countries, FLO is the world's largest third party fair trade certifying organ. This means that FLO is a company that producers contact in order to get their products verified, and thus labelled, as fair trade. In the actor network you can see the connections between Fair Trade International and the local departments.
All of the national departments of FLO work as independents NGO's, each responsible for labelling and marketing fair trade products sold in their country. Whether producers products can be labelled or not, depends on whether the production circumstances live up to FLO's standards.
While FLO is setting the standard for when a product can become FLO-certified, FLO them self is NOT in the field testing if producers live up to their standards. The field auditing is done by the German based organisation, FLO-Cert, an independent organisation formed in 1997 and the sole certifying organ of FLO. According to their website, most of FLO's auditors are based in the countries in which they do audits.
As seen on the map, FLO is also connected to ISO, International Standard Organization (ISO is the tiny green actor appearing just under FLO-Cert). ISO is an international network with more than 160 member nations, setting up standards for a vast array of products, production facilities, safety and trade. Since ISO does not do certifications themselves, they accredit other organisations, like FLO-Cert, signalling that these organisations comply with the standards of ISO. FLO-Cert is accredited with the ISO 65 standard for agricultural produce.
Operating in more than 20 countries, FLO is the world's largest third party fair trade certifying organ. This means that FLO is a company that producers contact in order to get their products verified, and thus labelled, as fair trade. In the actor network you can see the connections between Fair Trade International and the local departments.
All of the national departments of FLO work as independents NGO's, each responsible for labelling and marketing fair trade products sold in their country. Whether producers products can be labelled or not, depends on whether the production circumstances live up to FLO's standards.
While FLO is setting the standard for when a product can become FLO-certified, FLO them self is NOT in the field testing if producers live up to their standards. The field auditing is done by the German based organisation, FLO-Cert, an independent organisation formed in 1997 and the sole certifying organ of FLO. According to their website, most of FLO's auditors are based in the countries in which they do audits.
As seen on the map, FLO is also connected to ISO, International Standard Organization (ISO is the tiny green actor appearing just under FLO-Cert). ISO is an international network with more than 160 member nations, setting up standards for a vast array of products, production facilities, safety and trade. Since ISO does not do certifications themselves, they accredit other organisations, like FLO-Cert, signalling that these organisations comply with the standards of ISO. FLO-Cert is accredited with the ISO 65 standard for agricultural produce.
FLO's stand on plantation grown coffee
FLO does not certify coffee grown on plantations, and requires smallholders to organize in cooperatives, which are then certified. FLO defines smallholder farms as being equal to or below the average size (ha) of farms in the region. For a cooperative to be certified, more than half the members have to be definable as smallholders.
FLO certify smallholders because they are considered vulnerable and in need of empowerment. Organizing in cooperatives is meant to provide a sustainable path to democratic empowerment, giving the individual members more decision-power in terms of the use of the social premium, and power to negotiate appropriate prices for their produce.
There might be scientific ground for FLO's decision to deny coffee plantations certification, but this isn't publicly available. They express their regret that Fair Trade USA resigned from the FLO network to pursue a different approach to fair trade, but at the same time they stand firm in keeping with the principles already in use and they refuse to "water these down".
FLO certify smallholders because they are considered vulnerable and in need of empowerment. Organizing in cooperatives is meant to provide a sustainable path to democratic empowerment, giving the individual members more decision-power in terms of the use of the social premium, and power to negotiate appropriate prices for their produce.
There might be scientific ground for FLO's decision to deny coffee plantations certification, but this isn't publicly available. They express their regret that Fair Trade USA resigned from the FLO network to pursue a different approach to fair trade, but at the same time they stand firm in keeping with the principles already in use and they refuse to "water these down".