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Fair Trade, Eco and Ethical
FAQ
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How can you be sure that your products really are Fair Trade?
    Many of our overseas suppliers are either members of WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization), or have been recommended to us by other WFTO members.We have either visited them ourselves, or they are visited regularly by larger Fair Trade organisations which have the resources to check on Fair Trade standards in detail.

WFTO members, including ourselves, complete a detailed self assessment of performance against Fair Trade standards every 2 years. This is sent to stakeholders such as suppliers and buyers for comments, in a process called Mutual Review. In addition, 10% of self assessments are chosen at random each year for external audit.

Some of the crafts we buy from UK suppliers would be described best as "ethically traded” rather than "fairly traded”.
This means, as a minimum, that they comply with international laws (eg minimum wages, trade union representation, no child labour). Fair Trade goes further than ethical trade - it not only complies with legislation, it proactively tries to deal with
those at the bottom of the social ladder, to increase their skills and bring them out of poverty.

Other products are sold for their environmental criteria, generally because they are recycled.