Certification
TransFair Canada
TransFair Canada (TFC) is a national non-profit certification and public education organization promoting fair trade to improve the livelihood of developing world farmers and workers.
Creating and maintaining consumer awareness and confidence in Fair Trade are the central objectives of TransFair. To achieve this, TransFair has put in place an independent certification and monitoring system that guarantees the integrity of the Fair Trade products labeled with the Fair Trade Certified logo.
TransFair is the only Canadian affiliate of the Fairtrade Labeling Organizations (FLO) International, an association of Northern labeling organizations such as TransFair. FLO registers and monitors producer groups, and monitors their sales to northern importers. FLO also sets standards and procedures for Fair Trade practices and for monitoring in northern countries. FLO International guarantees that producers and workers receive the benefits of fair trade sales.
TransFair Canada is in compliance with FLO International's Flow of Goods Policy finalized in March 2000. The policy sets minimum standards that TransFair must follow to maintain its status within the association. These minimum standards are:
- That companies representing 95% of the volume of commodities labeled by TransFair be audited every year.
- That all companies selling 2000kg or more of labeled products be audited every year.
- That companies provide information quarterly as set out in standard forms developed by FLO and adapted by National Initiatives.
The assurance that Fair Trade Certified products are genuine comes from the fact that all steps of the commercial chain are licensed and monitored by FLO or TransFair. From the producers to the consumers, we are able to track purchases, processing and sales of products by licensed companies.
TransFair licenses companies to use the Fair Trade Certified logo on a variety of products including, but not limited to fair trade coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar and chocolate. Licensed companies agree to report their purchases, processing and sales of certified products to TransFair. They are also required to open their books to TransFair for periodic verifications, and pay a license fee to TransFair Canada.
The license fees that companies pay TransFair are used to commission external audits of companies in Canada, to support the monitoring of companies and to finance FLO's monitoring of producer organizations in the South.
For more information visit the TransFair Canada website: www.transfair.ca
[TransFair Facts and Figures 2002](PDF file)
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