Fairtrade International is a label for consumers aimed at promoting the lives of farmers and workers through trade. Fairtrade works with farmers and workers of more than 300 commodities. The main products promoted under the Fairtrade label are coffee, cocoa, banana, flowers, tea and sugar. Products carrying the FAIRTRADE Marks have been certified against the criteria in the Fairtrade Standards.
The cross-border social dialogue component
The Standard Committee (SC) is a permanent committee which has the responsibility of developing Fairtrade standards and prices, overseeing the correct operation of Fairtrade’s assurance scheme (certification, verification and licensing activities) and taking decisions on procedural complaints about the way Fairtrade standards are implemented. The SC is made up of representatives of the key stakeholders of the Fairtrade system. This includes representatives from producer-facing and market-facing activities and independent experts. Workers’ rights experts shall be preference-linked to trade unions or labour rights’ organizations. Currently, a union representative from the Colombian organization SINTRAINAGRO (National Union of Agricultural and Livestock Industry Workers) sits on this committee.