As you may have heard, the Board of Fair Trade USA has withdrawn its membership in Fairtrade International and will no longer be the Fairtrade Labelling Initiative for the United States as of December 31, 2011.

Despite this decision, the future is bright for Fairtrade.  We are in discussions with Fair Trade USA to determine a reasonable transition plan in order to ensure that producers and our business partners are minimally affected by their decision, particularly those whose who do business across the Canada-US border. As part of this, we will also take the lead with Fairtrade International to assist US companies wanting to remain within the FLO Fairtrade system.

We encourage you to contact us at licensefairtrade [dot] ca with any questions or concerns you may have, and we will also provide additional details over the coming weeks.