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Until recently, for coffee to be certified fair trade, it had to be produced by a democratically run co-ooperative.
But Fair Trade USA is opening the fair trade market to other types of producers, including the big coffee plantations, in a bid to double U.S. sales for fair trade producers by 2015.
This initiative, which is called Fair Trade for All, has been met with mixed reactions by other fair trade groups around the world.
The lack of consensus on criteria for fair trade products is also reflected by the new Small Producers label from the CLAC (Coordinadora Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Pequenos Productores de Comercio Justo), which is meant to better protect the interests of small producers.
For more information:
- Fractures in Fair Trade - Fair Trade Vancouver reacts to unilateral decision by Fair Trade USA to open fair trade standards to hired labourers and plantation workers
- The 3 Major Producer Networks Oppose FTUSA's Withdrawal from FLO - Fair Trade Resource Network
- Small Producers symbol
