Why do some products claim to be Fair Trade but do not carry the Certification Mark?
Some organizations, also called Alternative Trading Organizations or Fair Trade organizations, are purely dedicated to trading fairly and have been doing so for many years before Fairtrade certification was established. These organizations were set up by some of the same third world development charities that got Fairtrade labelling going. However, some other companies make their own fair trade claims without having the independent scrutiny of the FAIRTRADE Certification Mark, and perhaps without the interests of producers at heart. If you are shopping and see tea, coffee, bananas or cocoa products without the Mark, then they have not met Fairtrade standards. It is as simple as that.
