Background to the PhytoTrade Africa Fair Trade Charter

1. Rationale for Having a Fair Trade Charter

PhytoTrade Africa members are drawn from a wide spectrum of players in the natural products industry. Its primary constituency is poor rural producers, but its members also include NGOs, the private sector, researchers, government departments and interested individuals.

In joining PhytoTrade, each member has to formally sign the Association's constitution. This binds them to the objectives of PhytoTrade, of which the following two are especially relevant:

8.1 To enable poor rural communities in the Southern African region to generate income through the sustainable utilisation of natural products.

8.6 To promote fair trade practices in natural products in the Southern African region and internationally.

In order that members have a common understanding of what 'fair trade practices', as described in the constitution, really mean, it has been agreed that a separate Charter should be developed relating to Fair Trade. This Charter would then form an addendum to the Constitution, and signature to the Charter would also be pre-requisite for membership of PhytoTrade.

2. Definition of Fair Trade

FINE[1], a network of organizations promoting Fair Trade in Europe, have agreed a common definition of Fair Trade as follows:

Fair Trade is an alternative approach to conventional international trade. It is a trading partnership which aims at sustainable development for excluded and disadvantaged producers. It seeks to do this by providing better trading conditions, by awareness raising and by campaigning.

3. Goals of Fair Trade

With regards to PhytoTrade Africa's members, the primary goals of Fair Trade are:

a) To improve the livelihoods and well-being of producers by improving market access, strengthening producer organizations, paying a better price and providing continuity in the trading relationship.

b) To promote development opportunities for disadvantaged producers, especially women and indigenous people, and to protect children from exploitation in the production process.

c) To protect human rights by promoting social justice, sound environmental practices and economic security.

4. Fair Trade in Practice

In practice, Fair Trade means:

a) Fair prices: Paying the producer a price that not only ensures that the costs of production are adequately covered, but that guarantees the producer a profit in order to have a reasonable quality of life.

b) Advance payments: Paying at least a portion of the purchase price in advance, to facilitate entry for new producers into the market, and to prevent producers from having to borrow money at higher than commercial lending rates.

c) Long term trading partnerships: Developing and nurturing long term relationships between producers and buyers that facilitate long term production planning, sustainable production practices and increased income security for producers.

d) Design advice and market information: Helping producers to understand the markets for which their products are destined, and to improve or alter the design of their products to meet market trends.

5. PhytoTrade and Fair Trade

PhytoTrade is not a Fair Trade Labelling Organisation, and cannot certify any of its members' products as Fair Trade products. Moreover, since most natural products fall outside the limited range of products for which internationally recognised Fair Trade standards exist (e.g. coffee, tea, bananas, cocoa), there are few, if any, other organisations that could provide such certification.

However, PhytoTrade is committed to the principles of Fair Trade, and as such will endeavour to ensure that all its members actively adhere to these principles in the production and trade of natural products. The primary instrument for achieving this is the Fair Trade Charter, to which all members must be signatory. Any member found to be in breach of the conditions of the Charter is therefore liable to expulsion from the Association.

Thus, while PhytoTrade is not able to guarantee that products supplied by its members are Fairly Traded, it is able to assert that its members are actively committed to Fair Trade principles and have signed a Charter to this effect. Moreover, PhytoTrade is able to facilitate audits of Fair Trade practice on its members if requested to do so, and financed, by a particular client.

[1] FINE members are:

Fairtrade Labelling Organisations (FLO)
International Federation for Alternative Trade (IFAT)
Network of European World Shops (NEWS!)
European Fair Trade Association (EFTA)