A new Fair Trade registration scheme based on the relations of production

Abstract

Fashion, accessories, and homeware fall outside the regulations of Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), which certifies mostly food products. A handful of fashion-led Fair Trade enterprises are now providing ranges of high-quality desirable products, made by workers employed in urban enterprises as well as independent producers in cooperatives. Tabeisa, an NGO involved in Fair Trade retailing, has developed a new regulatory framework which uniquely starts by defining the relations of production between all actors in the chain. This ensures that those not previously covered by existing standards are made visible and receive fair pay and conditions.

Un nouveau programme d'enregistrement commerce équitable basé sur les relations de production

La mode, les accessoires et les articles ménagers ne s'inscrivent pas dans les règlements de Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), qui certifie principalement les produits alimentaires. Une poignée d'entreprises de commerce équitable axées sur la mode proposent à présent des gammes de produits de qualité très désirables, fabriqués par des ouvriers employés dans des entreprises urbaines, mais aussi par des producteurs indépendants faisant partie de coopératives. Tabeisa, une ONG active dans la vente au détail de produits de commerce équitable, a mis au point un nouveau cadre de réglementation dont le point de départ, et c'est ce qui le rend unique, est une définition des relations de production entre tous les acteurs de la chaîne. Cela permet de faire en sorte que ceux qui n'étaient pas englobés jusque-là deviennent visibles et reçoivent un salaire et des conditions de travail justes.

Um novo esquema de registro de Comércio Justo baseado nas relações de produção

Moda, acessórios, mobília e utensílios domésticos ficam de fora das regulações da Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International – FLO (Organizações Internacionais para Certificação de Comércio Justo), que certifica a maioria dos produtos alimentares. Algumas das empresas de moda da Fair Trade estão agora oferecendo uma série de produtos que têm grande demanda de alta qualidade, feitos por trabalhadores empregados em empresas urbanas e também por produtores independentes em cooperativas. Tabeisa, uma ONG envolvida com o comércio Fair Trade, desenvolveu uma nova estrutura regulatória que de maneira única inicia definindo as relações de produção entre todos os agentes da cadeia. Isto garante que aqueles não previamente abrangidos tornem-se visíveis e recebam pagamento e condições justas.

Una nueva modalidad de certificación de Comercio Justo basada en relaciones de producción

La moda, los accesorios y los artículos del hogar no figuran en la lista de productos regulados por la Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), la cual certifica principalmente productos alimenticios. Actualmente algunas empresas de la moda que participan en Comercio Justo elaboran productos de alta calidad y demanda fabricados por trabajadores en industrias urbanas y por cooperativas de productores independientes. Tabeisa, una ONG minorista de Comercio Justo, ha elaborado un nuevo marco regulatorio cuya singularidad consiste en la definición de las relaciones de producción entre todos los actores de la cadena productiva. Esta novedad asegura que quienes anteriormente permanecían invisibles ahora salgan a la luz y gocen de salarios y condiciones justos.

Keywords:

• Labour and Livelihoods
• Rights
• Sub-Saharan Africa

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank all the crafters in South Africa who participated in the development of the scheme with encouragement, support, and excellent critical feedback throughout both research and development stages. Thanks also to Bernadene Abrahams, currently Head of the Tabeisa office in Cape Town. The work reported was supported by a grant from the British government's Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills under the University Partnerships for Africa Scheme. Tabeisa has also received support from the Department for International Development (DFID).

Notes

Income-generating projects were often just one component of a wider programme of welfare or development projects offered by these organisations and might also have been concerned with the preservation of traditional skills or crafts, as well as income generation (see Littrell and Dickson 1999 for more detail).

The most accessible means of observing this new flurry of Fair Trade non-food activity is in the mainstream news and fashion media. Examples include the June 2008 issue of Marie Claire, entirely devoted to ethical fashion. A brief glance at the news pages of two Fair Trade fashion brands in the UK, Made and People Tree, showed their products being profiled with information on their ethical credentials more than 50 times between March and June 2009.

Dependent workers are often referred to as outworkers, because they do factory work ‘out’ of the factory.

These Fair Trade enterprises are often called Alternative Trading Organisations (ATOs), but they differ from mainstream buyers who sell some Fair Trade products for commercial reasons, because they have embedded pro-poor motives driving all the trade that they do.

This is not to say that craft producers do not need collective action in order to represent their interests to influential parties such as local and national power bases which govern market access and taxes on raw materials.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hannah McDowall

Hannah McDowall is currently completing her doctoral studies at the University of Leeds in the UK, before which she worked in the voluntary sector with organisations which represented the interests of home-based workers in the UK and internationally.

John Humphreys

John Humphreys is Chairman and Trustee of the registered charity Tabeisa UK, and emeritus professor at the University of Greenwich, UK. <[email protected]>

Jane Conlon

Jane Conlon (corresponding author) is a senior manager at Coventry University, UK and a visiting professor at Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa. For the past ten years she has been Chief Executive of the Tabeisa NGOs in South Africa and the UK. In 2006 she was awarded an MBE for services to disadvantaged communities in South Africa.