Fair Trade Certification in America

"Responding to burgeoning demand for products made with socially responsible practices, global organic certifier IMO (Institute for Marketecology) introduced a new standard for fair trade certification in the United States dubbed Fair for Life.

The social and fair trade certification program is based on standards from ILO (International Labour Organization) conventions, FLO (Fairtrade Labeling Organization), SA8000 (Social Accountability International), and IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements) social criteria, and covers labor rights issues including pricing and premiums.

IMO developed the IMO Fair Trade & Social Responsibility Program after they found a need for it in the market, Kerry Hughes, IMO's new U.S. representative, told Sustainable Food News.

"Currently, other fair trade certifiers are not open to the wide range of products that IMO certification can cover," Hughes told Sustainable Food News. "It is also integral in our program that because we have certifiers all around the world . we can certify operations that already have the systems in place for organic, thus making the certification process smoother."

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