Feedback & Complaints

We're always ready to hear any feedback you have for us about Fair Trade and Fairtrade certification, but it's often hard to figure out where best to direct your ideas and the occasional complaint. In fact, Fairtrade certification being such a big endeavour, sometimes we're not even the right people to hear what you have to say. 

Here's a quick road map:

Fairtrade Canada

Anything related to Fairtrade certification in Canada should be directed to us, and our contact information can be found on this page.

If you think you've found an example of someone misusing a Fairtrade certification mark, let us know using this webform.

FLO International

FLO is the international Fairtrade standards setting body located in Bonn, Germany. You will likely have very few occasions to write FLO, with the possible exception of responding to FLO press releases or feedback related to Fairtrade standards. 

FLO can be contacted through this page on their website.

FLO-Cert

FLO-Cert is the independent certification and auditing body for Fairtrade, and is mostly relevant to Fairtrade certification in Canada only insofar as it is tasked with certifying producers and many of the (non-Canadian) companies that trade with them.

For good reason, FLO-Cert has a very structured process when it comes to receiving feedback, which means there are specific requirements when contacting them about specific issues.

Allegations

An allegation is an accusation, made by a third party, against an operator holding a Fairtrade certificate claiming that this operator violated the Fairtrade Standards, FLO-CERT policies or other contractual obligations with FLO-CERT. Such an allegation can be filed by any party, including but not limited to, a Fairtrade operator, a NGO, a labour union, a worker or a member of the public.

If you'd like to file an allegation with FLO-Cert, please refer to this document.

Please also note that allegations regarding Canadian companies should be made directly to the TransFair Canada Certification Department (certificationfairtrade [dot] ca).

Complaints

Complaints relate to the manner in which FLO-CERT provides services, including but not limited to:

• failure to respond to certification relevant correspondence within a reasonable amount of time,
• unprofessional behaviour by a FLO-CERT staff person or auditor.

Most Canadians have little to no interaction with FLO-Cert, which means there will be few occasions to file a complaint. Nevertheless, to file a complaint with FLO-Cert, please refer to this document.

Appeals and Reviews

All FLO-CERT operators have the right to appeal against any certification decision or request a review of any evaluation decision FLO-CERT takes if they can bring forward arguments based as outlined in this document.

Please note that you may not appeal or request a review of a decision on someone else's behalf. If you believe an incorrect decision was made regarding another operator, you may only encourage that operator to take the appropriate steps.

Because of this there will be almost no occasion for a Canadian company to file an appeal or review with FLO-Cert. Most Canadian companies should appeal directly to our Certification Department (certificationfairtrade [dot] ca).