Get Naked! This is the first in a series of posts that will explore the stated principles of Fair Trade and the requirements for certification.
The first of the major components of fair trade we will look at is transparency. In order to obtain Fair Trade certification, the producer must, among other requirements, be “organized into cooperatives or associations that are transparent, accountable and democratic.” IFAT defines transparency and accountability as “transparent management and commercial relations to deal fairly and respectfully with trading partners.” Transparency appeals to me as a consumer. If you need to cover your operations you have something to hide, right?
Wired magazine agrees that transparency has high potential commercial value. Wired used a very literal take on transparency in the March 2007 issue with their lead article “Get Naked and Rule the World” featuring a transparent cover that pulls away to reveal a naked Jenna Fisher from The Office… along with a strategically placed sign. While it is the image that garnered a lot of attention, it is the article that is truly controversial. It features a series of stories about "radical transparency, our notion that the next model of business success is laying your company bare to the world—sharing secrets with your rivals, blogging about ideas as you have them, and copping to fumbles and foibles as you make them.”
Sharing secrets (gasp), owning up to mistakes (no!), utter madness! What could possibly come from such openness? Perhaps consumer trust? Maybe innovation and advancement? Perhaps even ethical business?
The requirement that producer cooperatives be transparent and accountable has proven to benefit the Fair Trade movement greatly by establishing trust amongst members of the cooperatives and providing a means to account for the spending of Fair Trade social premiums, which are to be used only for community development purposes. One of Fair Trade's major shortcomings is that this requirement is not extended to the purveyors of the products in Western markets. Many Fair Trade retailers and wholesalers have chosen to emulate the transparent cooperative model (perhaps the best example is coffee roaster Equal Exchange), and all retailers and wholesalers who are members of the Fair Trade Federation are commited to transparency. However, since transparency is not strictly required, large retailers that offer Fair Trade certified goods are not living up to the same standard required of the producers of those goods. JustThings.info has a good example of this failing:
While 100% fair-trade roasters like Just Coffee are proud to post their producer contracts on their website and share solidarity stories of the relationships they’ve developed with communities from Chiapas to Ethiopia over the years, this is not the case for a player like Starbucks. Instead, one hears tales of price gouging, corruption, insider trading, racketeering, ghost buyers – all the worst hallmarks of corporate capitalism.
All of this is to say that despite the many successes of the Fair Trade movement, until it requires the same standard of transparency and accountability from retailers that is required of producers, the burden of holding all companies accountable still rests squarely on the shoulders of the consumer. There are plenty of retailers and wholesalers from which to choose that do meet this standard. As Fair Trade has moved into the mainstream, popping up everywhere from McDonalds to Wal-Mart, there is great oportunity for such companies to take advantage of the marketing edge available through the Fair Trade label without committing to the true purposes of the movement. Should these companies be forbidden from selling fair trade? Perhaps not, as we can seize this opportunity to get a foot in the door and demand that these companies commit 100% to the ideals and criteria of fair trade, transparency included. I want to see every business standing naked and proud before the world, their fair and just business practices stripped bare for the entire world to see and respect.