Fair Trade in the Czech Republic

Those involved in the fair trade process are:

The fair trade process starts with producer organizations, which are usually groups of small-scale farmers such as coffee growers. To be certified as fair trade POs, the producers must meet certain criteria, such as labor standards and sustainable farming.

On the buyer side, companies buying from Fairtrade certified POs must also adhere to strict standards, which focus on the terms and conditions, especially pricing. When buying products from the PO, the buyers must pay at least the “fair trade minimum price”, which enables the PO to obtain a price covering the cost of sustainable development of the product. If the market price is higher, the market price can be paid.

When fairly trade products reach retailers, they are identified by the international fair-trade certification mark, a black, blue and green logo on the packaging. The logo signifies to consumers that the product meets internationally agreed fair trade standards and that the producer is getting a fair deal.

Inevitably, given the strong political dimension and the questioning of conventional trading systems, fair trade has its detractors. Critics on the right argue that it distorts the market among other things; some left-wing groups argue it does not go far enough in challenging the established trade system. Another criticism, from all sides, is that often products claim to be fairly traded when they are not, raising questions about monitoring and standards.

In the Czech Republic, the fair trade movement has developed more recently, after 1989. In 1994, the Jeden svět shop opened, the country’s first charity shop, and later on, it started to sell fair trade products.

In 2003, organizations started forming, such as the Společnost pro Fair Trade, now known as NaZemi – společnost pro fair trade), and Ekumenická akademie Praha. A year later, Czech fair trade organisations joined together forming the Asociace pro fair trade (Czech Fair Trade Association, CFTA), the first FLO in Central and Eastern Europe. And in 2009, the Asociace pro fair trade joined forces with the other FLO worldwide.

The CFTA plays a central role in fair trade in the Czech Republic. While the Bonn-based FTI licenses the fair trade logo on products, the CFTA is responsible for marketing and promoting fair trade.

Fair trade is becoming increasingly important and mainstream in the Czech Republic, although price remains an issue. “We expect that with larger turnover, fair trade goods will become more attractively-priced, although in view of the way fair trade works, they won’t become ’low price’ products,” says Kateřina Chejlaková of Mikokava, a company selling fair trade coffee.

Related articles