Fairtrade · Certification for fairer trade in supply chains
Fairtrade certification and requirements for trade your buyers and shoppers can trust.
Prepare your producer organisation, estate or trading business for a Fairtrade audit by FLOCERT against the Fairtrade International standards that fit your role. Sterling's expert and experienced consultants turn the standard into routines your members, workers and traders follow, and keep the records an auditor will sample, in 60+ countries. We ensure successful certification for our clients.
- Fixed scope, one proposal: consulting, Effivity software, Sterling Academy access and internal auditor training, as applicable to your standard, in one proposal
- A team of expert and experienced supply-chain and social compliance consultants, advising on management systems across sectors and countries since 2003
- The Sterling Promise: 100% on-time completion, 100% success, 8,100+ client engagements. Sterling does not certify; FLOCERT audits and decides
8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries.
Fairtrade client experience
What it is
What is Fairtrade certification and what is it used for?
Fairtrade certification shows that a producer or a trading company has been audited against the Fairtrade Standards. Fairtrade International writes those standards through its Standards Committee, following a published procedure for developing and revising them. FLOCERT carries out the audits and takes the certification decisions, which keeps the people who set the rules apart from the people who check them.
There is no single Fairtrade standard. The system is a set of documents: one for your type of organisation, product standards for commodities such as coffee and cocoa, and separate standards for textiles and climate projects. Which ones apply depends on where you sit in the chain, from a cooperative of smallholders to an importer, a processor or a brand.
Companies use the certificate to sell to buyers who ask for Fairtrade products and to back sourcing commitments with an independent audit. The lasting value is discipline: traceable product, clear contracts and records that stand up to a sample.
Current versions. Each Fairtrade standard is versioned on its own. The Hired Labour standard is at version 2.4, dated 16 April 2024, and the Trader Standard is at version 3.0, dated 30 June 2026, with a summary of main changes published alongside it. Check the version of every standard that applies before building to it. How the Fairtrade standards fit together
Who it is for
Who needs Fairtrade certification?
Producers need it to sell product as Fairtrade, and every company that buys, handles or sells that product as Fairtrade further along the chain generally needs to be covered too, or the claim breaks. Organisations come to Sterling for Fairtrade from four starting points:
- A buyer wants Fairtrade product. An importer, roaster, chocolate maker or retailer will only source from certified producers and traders. Confirm the products and standards expected before you commit.
- A tender or retail programme names it. Public catering contracts, retailer own-label ranges and corporate sourcing policies often specify Fairtrade. The scope has to match the products named in the specification.
- A development partner or regulator asks for evidence. Funders and export authorities look for audited proof of fair trading and decent work.
- A group company or brand owner extends the claim. A parent or brand already sells Fairtrade lines and needs its processors, packers and sister companies inside the certified chain.
Requirements
What are the main Fairtrade requirements?
Your requirements come from the standards that match your role and your products. The list below is a plain-language map of the Fairtrade International standards; FLOCERT also publishes its compliance criteria for each certification type, and those are what the auditor works from.
- Small-scale Producer standard (SPO): for organisations of smallholder farmers, covering how the organisation is run, how members trade through it and how production is managed.
- Hired Labour standard: for producers who depend on a hired workforce, covering workers' rights, conditions and the way the company works with its employees.
- Contract Production standard: for smallholders who are not yet organised and produce under contract with a partner that supports them.
- Trader Standard: for companies that purchase, sell, handle or process Fairtrade products, covering traceability, contracts, sourcing and the use of Fairtrade claims.
- Product standards: commodity-specific requirements, such as the Fairtrade standards for coffee and for cocoa, applied on top of the standard for your organisation type.
- Textile and Climate standards: separate standards for textile supply chains and for climate projects, used where your activity falls within them.
What does useful Fairtrade evidence look like?
Member or worker registers, purchase and sales records that trace Fairtrade product from source to invoice, signed contracts, meeting minutes and decisions, training and awareness records, and proof that findings from the last audit were closed. We help you keep only the records the criteria call for, and they sit in Effivity from the first workshop, so the auditor samples a working system.
Certification process
How do you get Fairtrade certified?
Build the system first, then FLOCERT audits it. Sterling prepares your organisation and supports it through the audit; FLOCERT alone decides whether you are certified.
- 01Work out which standards and products apply.Your organisation type, the Fairtrade products you will trade, the sites and members involved, and what your buyer expects.
- 02Gap analysis against the standards and FLOCERT's criteria.Current practice checked in the field and in the records, with actions, owners and dates agreed.
- 03Apply to FLOCERT and put the controls in place.Complete FLOCERT's application while traceability, contracts, governance and worker or member arrangements are implemented and people are trained.
- 04Pass FLOCERT's initial audit.An internal inspection first, then FLOCERT's initial audit; close any non-conformities with evidence and await its decision.
- 05Stay certified through the certification cycle.Records, reviews and improvements continue, alongside the follow-up audits FLOCERT schedules within its cycle.
Check the route before you sign. Fairtrade certification is carried out by FLOCERT; ask anyone offering a Fairtrade certificate who will audit you, and confirm your status and any supplier's status directly with FLOCERT. Be wary of offers that promise the certificate without an audit of your operation. How to choose a credible Fairtrade provider · The certification buyer's checklist
Cost
How much does Fairtrade certification cost?
No single figure fits every Fairtrade project. A trader adding one product line to an established system faces a very different scope from a producer organisation with hundreds of members and no traceability. Sterling's proposal shows each component and one all-inclusive proposal.
| Cost component | What affects it |
|---|---|
| Consulting and implementation | The standards that apply, the number of members, workers, sites and products, the state of traceability and governance, and how much of the work your team takes on (Design™ or Drive™) |
| Independent certification | FLOCERT's audit scope, audit days, the sites and members it visits, travel and the audits across the certification cycle, all set by FLOCERT |
| Internal resources | Time from managers, committee members and internal inspectors, training sessions, contract changes and any improvements to storage or worker facilities |
| Software and learning | Included in a Sterling engagement: Effivity for records and Sterling Academy access for your people, with users, courses and access period confirmed in the proposal |
| Continued support | Internal inspections, pre-audit reviews, refresher training and new versions of the standards under Sustain™ |
What moves the price
- Producer organisation, hired-labour company or trader, and how many standards apply
- Number of members, workers, sites and Fairtrade products
- Whether traceability and contract records exist today
- The buyer's deadline and your team's capacity
- Languages, remote locations and group structures
What a Sterling proposal always shows
- Deliverables, responsibilities, assumptions and exclusions, in writing
- FLOCERT's charges shown as a separate line, so the whole programme can be compared
- Effivity, training and Academy access itemised at no additional cost
- Payment milestones linked to deliverables
- One all-inclusive proposal. No surprises, ever
Timeline
How long does Fairtrade certification take?
As an estimate, a producer organisation should allow roughly four to nine months from gap analysis to FLOCERT's decision, and a trader with sound systems less. Harvest calendars, member meetings and FLOCERT's audit schedule decide more of that than paperwork does.
| Phase | What determines the pace |
|---|---|
| Scope and gap analysis | Access to members, workers, sites and trading records, and a quick decision on products and standards |
| Implementation | Governance changes, new contracts, traceability set-up, training and approvals by committees or boards |
| Records and internal inspection | Trade and production running under the system long enough to produce records, then an internal inspection |
| FLOCERT audit | FLOCERT's calendar, the season, and the time needed to close any non-conformities |
If a buyer has set a date, tell us at the start and we will say plainly what is achievable.
Your engagement
What your Fairtrade engagement includes
Sterling OS™ sets how we work with you. You choose one support level: Design™, where we guide and your team does the work, or Drive™, where we manage the programme and carry more of it. Either way the engagement covers:
Scope, gap analysis and action plan
The standards and products that apply, the gaps against FLOCERT's criteria, and owners and dates for every action.
Traceability, contracts and governance
Product flows, purchase and sales records, contracts and the organisation's decision-making, built with your managers or committee.
Effivity ISO & GRC software
Automate™: registers, records and actions in Effivity, included with the engagement at no additional cost.
Training for your people
Internal auditor training for your inspection team, as applicable to your standard, and preferential Sterling Academy access, including complimentary awareness training for your people as part of the engagement.
Internal inspection
Conducted or facilitated as agreed, with findings closed with evidence before FLOCERT arrives.
Audit readiness and Sustain™
Support through FLOCERT's initial audit and any non-conformities, then Sustain™ across the certification cycle.
Sterling does not certify; certification decisions remain with FLOCERT.
Often combined with
Standards organisations pair with Fairtrade
- amfori BSCIamfori BSCI audit preparation for producers: gap assessment across the 13 performance areas, remediation, worker-facing evidence and support from Sterling.
- BRCGS Food SafetyBRCGS Food Safety certification consulting for food manufacturers: HACCP plan, site standards and controls ready for a graded audit, announced or unannounced.
- BRCGS Storage and Distribution · Agents and BrokersBRCGS Storage and Distribution certification and Agents and Brokers: Issue 4 and Issue 3 requirements, scopes, audits and cost factors, with Sterling's support.
- CSDDDCSDDD compliance and requirements after Omnibus I: scoping, risk-based due diligence, complaints, monitoring and the 2029 start, delivered in one all-inclusive proposal.
- FAMI-QS / GMP+FAMI-QS and GMP+ certification for feed businesses: how the two schemes differ, their requirement documents, the audit route and how Sterling prepares you.
- FDA FSMA (US)FDA FSMA compliance for food facilities, importers, farms and carriers: preventive controls, FSVP, food traceability and records ready for FDA inspection.
Effivity · ISO and GRC software, included in every engagement
How Effivity helps you fulfil, automate and simplify the Fairtrade requirements.
Every Sterling Fairtrade engagement includes Effivity, the ISO and GRC automation platform built by the Sterling group and used in 50+ countries. Your consultant sets up the workspace within the agreed scope, so member and worker registers, contracts, traceability records, risks, training, internal inspections and actions sit in one place and owners see what is due. Sterling consulting clients get their Effivity subscription included with the engagement, at no additional cost.
Scope, sites and stakeholders
The certified products, sites and members or workers, with the stakeholders who matter, kept in one register and updated when the scope changes.
Policies, roles and decisions
Policies, committee roles and meeting decisions recorded with dates and owners, so governance can be shown, not just described.
Risks and improvement plans
Risks to workers, members and the supply chain assessed, with improvement actions tracked to closure and reviewed on schedule.
Training and documents
Training and awareness records for every person, linked to Sterling Academy, and controlled documents with versions and approvals.
Traceability, contracts and suppliers
Purchases, sales, contracts and product flows recorded as trade happens, so Fairtrade volumes reconcile from source to invoice.
Internal inspection and review
Inspection programmes, findings and follow-up, with dashboards that show management where the system stands.
Non-conformities and corrective action
Audit findings and complaints raised, investigated and closed with evidence that the action worked.
Your own processes, forms and reports
Forms, fields and workflows adapted to how your cooperative, estate or trading company works, without code.
What this means at the audit
FLOCERT's auditor samples registers, trade records, contracts and evidence of closed findings. In Effivity each is a screen with dates, owners and attachments, ready in minutes rather than gathered the week before the visit. Between audits Sustain™ runs in the same workspace, so the next audit in the cycle finds a system still in use.
In your engagement
- Subscription included with the engagement, at no additional cost
- Set up by your Sterling consultant within the agreed scope
- Existing registers and records migrated, not retyped
- Admin and user training for your team
- Modules for EMS, OHSMS, ISMS, FSMS and more when you add ISO standards
Sterling Academy · e-learning for your people
Train your members, workers and traders, not just the compliance lead.
Sterling Academy delivers e-learning with video lessons, practice checkpoints, a final exam and a numbered Certificate of Completion for each learner, verifiable online. Sterling consulting clients benefit from preferential Sterling Academy course access and special pricing through their Sterling consultant, including complimentary awareness training for their people as part of the engagement.
- Awareness training for everyone the standard touches, with records the auditor can sample
- Internal auditor training for your inspection team, as applicable to your standard, as part of the engagement
- Progress reports by site, group or department
- New staff and members trained as they join, so records stay current between audits
Keep exploring
Explore more about Fairtrade
Why Sterling
Want successful Fairtrade certification? Come to Sterling.
Fairtrade work sits where agriculture, labour and trade meet. Sterling brings those together: a system your members or workers understand, trade records that reconcile, and a team that stays until FLOCERT has decided, across producing and consuming countries.
Supply chains in 60+ countries since 2003
Management systems for farms, processors, exporters and brands across every region we serve, with one engagement team accountable from origin to market.
All-inclusive proposal
Consulting, Effivity, training and Academy access in one proposal, with FLOCERT's charges shown separately. No surprises, ever.
Built for the field, not the file
Records kept where the work happens, in language members and workers use, so the system survives the next harvest and the next audit.
Expert and experienced consultants
Consultants with deep experience in supply-chain, social and agricultural standards, who prepare your organisation properly first time, so the audit confirms what already works.
The Sterling Promise
What our Fairtrade certification success guarantee means
We stay with you until your agreed Fairtrade certification outcome is achieved, supporting implementation, preparation and the resolution of audit findings. Clear explanations, practical delivery, included software and employee learning turn the investment into lasting capability rather than a certificate on a wall.
The engagement identifies the standards, scope, outcome and responsibilities. Your organisation supplies accurate information and puts the agreed controls into use. FLOCERT assesses conformity and retains its certification decision. Our commitment concerns the agreed certification support, not a promise of every future contract or error-free delivery.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions about Fairtrade
What is the difference between Fairtrade International and FLOCERT?
Fairtrade International sets the Fairtrade Standards; FLOCERT audits companies against them and decides on certification. Keeping the two roles apart means the organisation that writes the rules does not also judge whether you meet them.
Do traders and brands need Fairtrade certification, or only farmers?
Companies that purchase, handle, process or sell Fairtrade products usually fall under the Trader Standard, not only the producers. FLOCERT also runs a separate verification procedure for licensees that never handle Fairtrade products themselves, so check with FLOCERT which route fits your model.
Can a cooperative of small farmers get Fairtrade certified as one organisation?
Yes. The Small-scale Producer standard is written for organisations of smallholder farmers, so the organisation, not each farm, goes through certification. That puts weight on how the organisation is run, on accurate member records and on its own internal checks.
Is Fairtrade the same as Rainforest Alliance or organic certification?
No. Each has its own owner, standard and certification route, although some producers hold several. We can prepare shared records and routines once, so the extra effort for a second scheme is smaller, while each scheme's own requirements are still met.
Does Sterling issue the Fairtrade certificate?
No. Sterling prepares your organisation and supports it through the audit. FLOCERT audits and makes the certification decision, and any provider claiming it can issue a Fairtrade certificate itself should be treated with caution.
Keep exploring
More on Fairtrade and related standards
More in Food safety & agriculture
Talk to a consultant
Plan your Fairtrade certification with a clear route to FLOCERT's audit.
Tell us your products, members or workforce, sites and target date. We’ll help you confirm the standards, the scope and the next steps.
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