Fair Trade USA® is a non-profit organisation and the leading certifier of fair trade products in North America. Its trusted Fair Trade Certified™ seal on a product signifies that it was made according to rigorous fair trade standards that promote sustainable livelihoods and safe working conditions, protection of the environment, and strong, transparent supply chains. Rather than creating dependency on aid, Fair Trade USA’s model empowers farmers, workers, and fishermen to fight poverty and earn additional money to improve their communities.
Find out more about Fair Trade USA® at - https://www.fairtradecertified.org/
ISEAL Code Compliant designates members who have successfully undergone independent evaluations against the ISEAL Codes of Good Practice in Standards-Setting, Assurance and Impacts.
The ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Sustainability Systems (‘the ISEAL Code’) v1.0 became effective as of 1 March 2024. There is an 18-month transition period of ISEAL Code Compliant organisations to align their systems to the ISEAL Code.
During the transition period, no independent evaluations against the Standard-Setting, Impacts, or Assurance Codes are conducted, but Code Compliant organisations will engage in compliance activities and are expected to align their systems with the ISEAL Code. Independent evaluations against the scope of the ISEAL Code are anticipated from Q4 2025. Information on the transition period is publicly available on the ISEAL Code of Good Practice revision and integration page.
As a result of this independent evaluation, Fair Trade USA have made the following improvements to how they set their standards:
-
Updated the Standards Development & Revision Procedure to clarify the stakeholder identification process.
-
Adapted the Terms of Reference for its Standards Committee to further ensure that no one stakeholder group is able to control decision making.
As a result of this independent evaluation, Fair Trade USA are in the process of making the following improvements to their assurance system:
-
Updating their Quality Manual to reflect the different assurance structures and associated oversight mechanisms utilised by FTUSA
-
Updating their systems to ensure that it is clear who is responsible for the functionality and improvement of their assurance system
-
Working with certification bodies to ensure that there is a publicly available list of operations certified by Fair Trade USA
No areas for improvement were identified during this evaluation.
ISEAL Code Compliant members provide publicly available reports that give a comprehensive and accessible overview of a member's system.
ISEAL System Overview Fair Trade USA 2022