FairTSA Newsletter: May 2023

A Word of Welcome

Dear Colleagues,

Greetings from Upstate New York! We are well into spring and even up here the trees have grown beautiful leaves again! After what seemed like a long winter, the promise of summer lies in the air and that does lift the spirit.

Being in close contact with many of our Producer, Certifier, and Licensee partners, we get to witness not only their highs, but also some of their struggles. It has seemed that the last 18 months have been particularly challenging. Sometimes we can help find solutions, although issues are often beyond our reach. But now, coinciding with spring, it feels like things are looking up.

This year we were present at Fruit Logistica and Biofach in Germany, and, just recently, at the Specialty Coffee Expo in Portland, Oregon. We made new contacts and reconnected with existing partners of our fair trade network.

Internally we are reviewing your Community Development Reports – thank you for submitting them on time! We are almost ready to publish the new set of application documents and, even more exciting, our colorful brand kit. It will be accessible on our website and downloadable for printouts. We received some strong testimonials and if you enjoy working with us, please send us yours! Each will be posted on our website.

All the best from Team FairTSA,

Silke Fuchshofen

Quality Control

How FairTSA Works with Certification Agencies

In this issue of our newsletter, we would like to talk about our collaboration with Cooperating Certification Agencies (CCAs). They are an integral part of our Fair Trade program.

Our philosophy with regard to working with CCAs is simple. All certifiers accredited under ISO 17065 – the industry norm for certifications – and with substantial experience in certifying organic agricultural operations as well as processing and handling facilities may apply for accreditation with our program. After their application, we conduct a search for publicly available adverse action information by government departments or accreditation bodies. If none is found, we accept the certification organization into our program. By way of this procedure, we have created a robust worldwide network of CCAs. The image below shows the Collaborating Certification Agencies (CCAs) we currently work with. In addition, it should be mentioned that we have full equivalency with the Instituto Biodinamico do Brazil’s (IBD) Fair Trade Program.

Worldwide Network of Certifiers

Working with so many certification agencies in different parts of the globe fosters our mission in several ways. Operating with local and regional colleagues as much as possible helps ensure that the inspectors and auditors who actually visit the farms and facilities requesting certification have the same or a similar cultural background and oftentimes a prior knowledge of the operations involved. Pairing our certification with organic or other agricultural certification systems such as GlobalGAP also provides the most cost-effective way of conducting meaningful inspections while at the same time minimizing carbon footprint and administrative hassle.

All inspectors authorized under the FairTSA program must undergo initial training. The training must be renewed every other year to keep current with recent program changes and freshen up and deepen knowledge and familiarity with our standard and operating procedures.

When talking about the contribution of our CCAs, we should not forget to mention the respect and appreciation we have for our trained inspectors. Whoever has accompanied an inspector on their work trips in the rainforest or through mountainous, rough terrain only passable by all-wheel drive vehicles while carrying out a challenging, exhausting, and even dangerous job will share our appreciation for these unsung heroes and heroines!

Therefore, we thank all of our CCAs and their personnel for their efforts and their dedication in inspecting and certifying according to the FairTSA Fair Trade Standard.

Community Development Update: Peter Paul

With spring here, FairTSA looks forward to receiving annual updates for the Community Development Projects we collaborate on with farming communities all over the world.

Certified producers are required to submit a retrospective evaluation for the previous year and an updated proposal for the next year’s projects. This is how FairTSA not only ensures compliance with our values and mission, but more importantly participates in workers’ efforts to create a sustainable future for their communities, honoring and supporting elders as well as children.

This process also provides complete transparency in where money is going and how it helps the people that grow and process our food. FairTSA requires inclusive democratic decision-making which supports women and marginalized groups. Our projects are diverse in scope, including construction, education, transportation, civil documentation, healthcare, as well as natural disaster and direct aid.

This year Peter Paul in the Philippines reflected on their successful 2022 projects, which included distribution of first aid kits for workers as well as income diversification training. The training focused on intercropping and organic farming practices, including a trip to a nearby teaching farm – a great example of the type of farming they hope to achieve!

We look forward to sharing all the other incredible projects this year with our readers. Thank you to all those working on the various Community Development Projects throughout the world!

Welcome to our New FairTSA Certified Producers!

The FairTSA team would like to extend a warm welcome to the following new FairTSA certified producers:

Aloe Jaumave S.A. de C.V.

Aloe vera, organic Aloe vera inner leaf freeze dried 200X, organic Aloe vera inner leaf spray dried 200X, organic Aloe vera whole leaf freeze dried 100X, organic Aloe vera whole leaf spray dried 100X

Empacadora ECOV del Estado de Mexico S.A. de C.V.