• Labelling and certification
• Fair Trade
• Forest certification

Labelling and certification

The growth of ethical consumerism in developed countries has led to increased imports of environmentally and socially certified products produced by the poor in developing countries, which could potentially contribute towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This paper examines the impact of the conditions for organic certification and fair-trade certification on the achievement of the MDG targets.

The paper finds:

• organic certification substantially contributes to MDG1 (poverty and hunger) and MDG7 (environmental sustainability)
• farmers who follow certification requirements stand to be rewarded with substantial improvements in farming systems, premium prices, and better market access
• by eliminating the risk of exposure to toxic agrochemicals, organic agriculture directly contributes to health-related MDGs through the improvement of sanitation and water quality
• as organic agriculture contributes to mitigating climate change, certified organic farmers with established farm-monitoring systems are in a better position to receive compensation for soil carbon sequestration, when the methodology is approved
• organic certification doesn’t clearly address social aspects, which fair-trade certification directly deals with. Fairtrade certification directly targets smallholders in marginal areas, resulting in broader impacts on other non-income MDGs
• fair-trade contributes directly to MDG8 (develop global partnerships in development), in particular targets 12 and 13, that address the needs of the poor in developing countries under rule-based, non-discriminatory trading systems
• financial benefits for fair-trade certification are immediate, as organic certification often requires a transition period before full certification is granted
• due to multiple standards in organic agriculture, additional effort in harmonising standards is important

While both organic and fair-trade certification have significant poverty reduction potential, so far their large-scale impacts on poverty have yet to be realised, due to the high costs associated with certification, particularly for organic certification. This does not have built-in mechanisms to assist smallholders with certification costs.The paper suggests that since the primary objective of fair-trade arrangements is to promote social justice and accountability, it satisfactorily supplements organic certification, which mainly deals with the technicalities involved in the production process. Thus, a combination of organic and fair-trade certifications would contribute to the comprehensive achievement of the MDGs.

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