Certifications
Fair Trade
Fair Trade contributes to sustainable development by providing better exchange conditions and guaranteeing the rights of producers and workers. It is a concrete and viable alternative to the traditional trading system.
The International Federation of Alternative Trade defines Fair Trade as a commercial partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, which seeks greater equity in international trade, contributing to sustainable development through better exchange conditions and guarantee of rights for producers and workers on the margins of the market, mainly in the Southern Hemisphere.
Fair Trade’s main objective is to establish direct contact between the producer and the buyer, reducing bureaucracy in trade and saving them from dependence on middlemen and the instabilities of the global commodity market.
The principles that should govern a commercial relationship considered fair are:
- 1. Transparency and co-responsibility in the management of the production and commercial chain;
- 2. Long-term relationship that offers training and support to producers and access to market information;
- 3. Payment of a fair price upon receipt of the product, in addition to a bonus that should benefit the entire community, and funding for production or planting, or advance payment for the harvest, when necessary;
- 4. Democratic organization of producers in cooperatives or associations;
- 5. Respect for national and international legislation and standards (for example, labor);
- 6. The work environment must be safe and children must attend school;
- 7. The environment must be respected.
(Source: Sebrae)
4C Certification
4C stands for Common Code of the Coffee Community and is the world’s leading certification system for the sustainable cultivation and processing of coffee. The aim of 4C is to anchor sustainability throughout the coffee sector. Independent third-party audits ensure compliance with economic, social and environmental criteria for agricultural production and coffee processing in order to establish sustainable and reliable coffee supply chains.
The 4C’s sustainability principles are set out in the 4C Code of Conduct, which was developed in a comprehensive and transparent process, involving producers, the coffee trade and industry, as well as various civil society organizations from around the world. In 2007, the 4C Code of Conduct was implemented and in 2014 it was revised in another extensive multistakeholder process.
4C applies an inclusive approach, which is intended to enable coffee producers to apply for certification in order to achieve real impact in the field in a process of continuous improvement. 4C provides solutions for smallholders and implements projects to improve the livelihoods of coffee farmers and their families.
By using innovative technologies to streamline the audit process, 4C improves audit quality and credibility while at the same time providing cost-effective solutions for the entire coffee sector.
4C is based on a broad global multi-stakeholder initiative. It is the largest certification system for coffee and well recognized by all interested parties. Independent references show that 4C is a complete and reliable standard, for example the ‘Silver’ recognition by the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform.
Source: WQS do Brasil
Organic Certification
Organic agriculture is an agricultural production system that aims to preserve the health of the environment, biodiversity, cycles and biological activities in the soil, emphasizing the use of management practices as opposed to the use of elements foreign to the rural environment.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, an agricultural production that adopts specific techniques, such as the optimization of natural resources, reduction of non-renewable energy and the elimination of the use of any genetically modified organism throughout the process, is considered organic.
This type of agriculture also includes concern for the health of humans, animals and plants. It is understood that for us to be healthy human beings we need balanced and biologically active soils, implying the adoption of integrative techniques and betting on the diversity of cultures.
Therefore, the certification of organic products is the procedure that ensures that these products comply with all the requirements already mentioned, that is, an organic certification is issued that guarantees that the organic products are different from the others, meeting the stipulated requirements.
There is no global organic regulation; there are official regulations of the countries (American organic regulation, European regulation, Brazilian regulation, among others). Therefore, the product will be certified as organic to be marketed where the regulation in question is accepted.
Source: Fispal Tecdigital
