Fairtrade (FLO)

Fair Trade Labelling Organisations International (FLO) is the international umbrella organisation for national Fair Trade organisations. FLO was founded in Bonn, Germany in 1997 with the aim to unify the different national Fairtrade standards and labels. FLO consists of two independently operating branches:

• FLO e.V. develops certification criteria and standards.
• FLOCERT (FLO certification) is an auditor that ascertains whether the criteria and standards have been met.

Today the international Fairtrade-structure comprises three producer networks, 25 national Fairtrade organisations, FLO e.V. and FLO CERT. The national Fairtrade organisations manage the Fairtrade label in their respective countries. In Germany, the national organisation is TransFair e.V., in Switzerland it is the Max Havellar Foundation, in Austria it is Fairtrade Österreich, in Britain it is the Fairtrade Foundation, etc… The producer networks represent the many different producer groups in Latin- and South America, Africa and Asia (CLAC: Coordinadora Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Comercio Justo, AFN: African Fairtrade Network, and NAP: Network of Asian Producers).

According to the German non profit organisation ‘Forum Fairer Handel’ the FLO Fairtrade label is one of the strictest Fair Trade labels and also the most recognised one. Both fairly traded produce and products produced with fairly traded ingredients can be Fairtrade labelled, there are Fairtrade coffee, bananas, cotton, cosmetics, jewellery and even gold.

High amount of recognition

In Europe, the Fairtrade seal is recognized by 90 percent of the population. In addition, a total of 95 percent of the 90 percent think that the seal is credible.

NATRUE

The NATRUE seal is awarded by the International Association of Natural Cosmetics, based in Brussels, to promote and protect natural cosmetics worldwide. Products labelled with the NATRUE sign are since the organisations founding in 2007 of high standard.

In practical terms, this means:

• Using natural and organic ingredients
• Gentle manufacturing processes
• Environmentally friendly practices
• Not using synthetic fragrances and/or colors
• Not using ingredients deriving from petro-chemistry
• Not using GMO ingredients
• Not using radiation on the finished product or on the herbal ingredients

The Vegan Society

The seal of the international society “The Vegan Society” is mostly to be found on food products, clothing or cleaning products. It is still quite rare on cosmetic products. FAIR SQUARED products are certified by the English Vegan Society and meet their criteria. Here is an extract from their standards:

• Animal ingredients: The manufacturer and/or producer may not involve or have involved the use of any animal products or animal by-products in their product or by the manufacturing of their product.

• Animal testing: The development and/or manufacture of the product may not involve or have involved testing of any sort on animals conducted at the initiative of the company or that has been carried out by a party/parties over whom the company has effective control.

• Genetically Modified Organisms: The development and/or production of genetically modified organisms (GMO) may not have involved concerning animal genes or animal-derived substances. Products containing GMOs must be labelled as such.

Fair Rubber e. V.

Not all raw materials that FAIR SQUARED process are covered by the Fair Label Organisation e.V. (FLO). There are simply too many natural raw materials. One of the raw materials that is not covered by FLO is natural rubber which is produced from the sap of the tropical tree “Hevea brasiliensis”. The aim of the Fair Rubber Association is “to contribute to an improvement of the working and living conditions of the primary producers of natural latex by applying the principles of Fair Trade to the trade in products made from natural rubber”. This is stated in their statues. But what does it actually mean?

Fair trade is good for the producers

Fair Rubber is good for the people. Participation in Fair Trade should be a possibility, particularly for the primary producers of natural rubber which are the rubber tree tappers and smallscale rubber farmers. But the low prices paid for raw materials make it impossible for the tappers, plantation workers, and the small-scale farmers to support themselves and their families.

Fair trade premium for improvement of the living conditions abroad

This is where Fair Rubber comes into play: By paying a Fair Trade premium of 0,50€ per kilo of natural rubber to the primary producers it is ensured that even during periods of depressed world market prices, the costs of production will be covered and the suppliers will have a surplus. Crucially, this would allow them to improve their working and living conditions. The decision of how this premium is to be used remains with the workers: for example by the management board for small-scale farmer associations, or in plantations by a panel consisting of selected employee representatives and delegated management.

FAIR SQUARED products that carry the Fair Rubber association’s label are condoms, period cups, as well as most FAIR ZONE products.

FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council®)

The FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council®) is committed to promoting an eco-friendly, socially responsible and economically viable management of forests which meets the social, economic and ecological needs of present and future generations. The label ensures that only FSC® certified and controlled materials will be used at any time of the production chain.

For the production of FSC® certified products the following materials can be used:

Certified materials along the supply chain

FSC® certified quantities, controlled wood or recycled materials. Depending on the FSC® label, one can see whether the product is made only with material from FSC® certified forests (FSC® 100 %), if it is made with recycled, certified material (FSC® recycled), or if it consists of a mixture of certified and controlled materials (FSC® mix).

ClimatePartner

Everything we do: the production of our products, the transportation, running offices and administration – it all causes CO2 emissions. Climate change does not just affect us and future generations, but already today especially the countries of our Fair Trade producers experience significant changes and new hardships.

This is why we decided to have our emissions analysed by the independent company ClimatePartner to reduce emissions as much as possible and to offset the rest through different climate projects. More information can be found here: https://fpm.climatepartner.com/tracking/12554-1801-1001/en

Climate-neutral production since 2017

As early as 2014 we offset the FAIR SQUARED condoms through the afforestation project ‘biosphere reservation Schaalsee’. We have now expanded these efforts to the whole FAIR SQUARED product range and everything we do. We are currently offsetting our emissions supporting a drinking water supply project in Odisha, India, and a marine protection project that collects and recycles ocean plastic. Since 2017 all FAIR SQUARED products are climate neutral.

Halal

Halal is Arabic for “allowed” or “approved”. It is for example forbidden for Muslims to consume pork and its by-products and blood, as well as intoxicants (alcohol).
Muslims can also not eat animals that have not been slaughtered in the proper religious way.

People do however not only consume nutrients by eating them, but also through the skin. For Muslims, it is therefore necessary that cosmetic production is done without these “forbidden“ raw materials and that the production sites and machines are uncontaminated. Our production is audited on a yearly basis.

FAIR SQUARED is one of the few suppliers in Europe that produce halal cosmetics.

In practical terms, this means:

• Only certifiable halal-compliant ingredients should be used in the certified product.
• Halal-compliant raw materials are not to be mixed with non-compliant raw materials.
• Halal-compliant semi-finished goods must not be mixed with non-compliant semi-finished goods.
• There must be no cross-contamination in either the raw material store or the manufacturing facility.
• Halal-compliant finished products must not be mixed with non-compliant finished products.
• Detergents and other chemical additives must not endanger halal status.
• All products must be traceable.

PeTA Cruelty-free

PeTA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is the largest animal rights organization in the world and fights among other things against factory farming, animal testing and fur farming. PeTA lists all brands that have given written assurances that no animal testing will be performed or commissioned.

PeTA exclusively lists companies with the best guidelines against animal testing in the positive list. These are companies whose corporate policies clearly stand against animal testing and thus help to avoid animal testing and to completely abolish it in the future.

Fairness and animal welfare in cosmetics

For FAIR SQUARED, these criteria were not difficult to meet since we actively supported animal welfare right from the start. FAIR SQUARED has stated to PeTA that no animal testing is currently being performed or commissioned, not that it will be so in the future. FAIR SQUARED products contain no ingredients of animal origin, such as animal skin, fur, meat, body parts, honey, bees wax, silk or other by-products.

FAIR SQUARED GmbH and its products have been controlled by PeTA and are allowed to advertise with the PeTA logo.