Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International

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Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) was established in 1997, and is an association of 20 national labelling initiatives that promote and market the Fairtrade Certification Mark in their countries. Fairtrade labelling organizations exist in 15 European countries as well as in Canada, the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

To ensure the transparency and the independence of the Fairtrade certification and labelling system, Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International was divided in January 2004 into two independent organizations:

FLO International develops and reviews standards and assists producers to gain and maintain certification and to capitalize on market opportunities. To ensure the transparency of the system, the standards are developed and reviewed by the FLO Standards and Policy Committee, in which stakeholders from FLO’s member organizations, producer organizations traders and external experts participate.

FLO-CERT ensures that producers and traders comply with the FLO Fairtrade Standards and that producers invest the benefits received through Fairtrade in their development. Operating independently from any other interests, it follows the international ISO standards for certification bodies (ISO 65).

In 2005, FLO labelled Fairtrade sales amounted to approximately €1.1 billion worldwide, a 37 % year-to-year increase.<ref>Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (2005). FLO Annual Report 2005. URL accessed on August 4, 2006.</ref> As per October 2006, 586 producer organizations in 58 developing countries were FLO-CERT Fairtrade certified.<ref>Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (2006). FLO October 2006 News Bulletin. URL accessed on October 30, 2006.</ref>