Fairtrade Beauty

Last week The Fairtrade Foundation announce the first beauty products to hold the FAIRTRADE Mark in the UK.

Currently, there are 57 products available from 5 different companies including Boots and Lush. With these companies paving the way, they are showing other companies how to make it easy for consumers to support Fairtrade workers with minimum effort and hopefully more will shortly follow suit.

Each product contains at least one Fairtrade certified ingredient. There are serveral natural products that could be sourced from Fairtrade producers, such as cocoa butter, brazil nut oil, honey and vanilla.  Click HERE for information regarding the minimum levels set for Fairtrade ingredients.

Fair Trade Standards

There are many different problems that farmers and workers in developing countries can come up against.

Coffee and cocoa is often grown on land owned by small farmers who market their goods through local co-operatives. This is why it is so important for them to receive a fair price for their goods. However, tea is usually grown on large estates. For the workers who are employed on these estates, the most important factors are that they receive fair wages and that they are able to work in safe conditions, free from harassment.

Taking the above into account, there are two sets of standards:-

1. Those that apply to small farmers and co-operatives (or similar, equivalent organisations), which ensure that there are standards and structures where everyone is involved in making the decisions that affect them.

2. Those that apply to workers on plantations and factories. These standards include:

• Providing workers with decent wages.
• The right and opportunity to be a part of a trade union.
• That health and safety regulations are followed.
• Provisions in place to protect the environment.
• No use of child labour.
• No use of forced labour.

These are minimum standards that must be met in order to be certified as fair trade. There are also certain standards that those who are buying from the producers must adhere to:

• Pay the producers a price that covers the cost of production and cost of living.
• Pay the producers a premium that they are able to invest into developments.
• Make advance payments to the producer if requested.
• Sign contacts to allow producers to make long term plans and begin production processes that they are able to sustain.

As well as adhering to minimum standards, producers are encouraged to continue developing their company by investing in the development of it, increasing environmentally friendly practices and continuing to improve working conditions and the quality of their products.