Sunday, February 04, 2007

As Fair Trade grows, other trade gets fairer

From The Bradenton Herald,by writer Tim Blangger

When rock star and global poverty activist Bono released a line of clothing in spring 2005, it might have been easy to believe the $80 cotton T-shirts and $175 denim jeans were made with Fair Trade Certified cotton.

After all, we're talking about Bono here, the guy who campaigns against AIDS in Africa and the crippling debt of Third World countries.

But, as it turns out, Bono's Edun clothing line wasn't Fair Trade Certified.

Fair Trade Certified essentially means that the raw material producers are paid a fair wage and workers are treated fairly as they manufacture the garment. Bono made no such claims, although Bono, his partner, Ali Hewson, and New York clothing designer Rogan Gregory said the clothing was manufactured "according to fair trade principles."

Confused? You're not alone. Edun clothing, which was discontinued last year after poor sales, highlights a blurring between what is considered Fair Trade Certified products, and a larger, more complex commercial environment where companies and consumers support fair trade ideals, but have not, for a number of reasons, taken the steps to become certified.

A nonprofit organization, TransFair USA, one of 19 national certifying groups that operate under the umbrella of the international Fair Trade network, grants Fair Trade status to products sold in the United States. Under Fair Trade rules, only products that are 100 percent Fair Trade Certified can carry the label.

In reality, Edun could have never received a Fair Trade certification for its clothing sold in the United States because TransFair USA only certifies agricultural products, including coffee, tea and a few tropical fruits. Clothing receives the official Fair Trade label in countries other than the United States.

2 comments:

Stephen M. Bauer said...

Have you got any other information on Fair Trade, especially Fair Trade clothing? I work for a non-profit org that is promoting Fair Trade goods.

stephem.m.bauer [at] gmail.com

Urzay G said...

Great Content especially where you mention that - "Fair Trade Certified" essentially means that the raw material producers are paid a fair wage and workers are treated fairly as they manufacture the product. It is good that people know this as I really believe that people take much of this for granted.