Fair Trade Certified Dairy

In early 2019, Fair Trade USA began an exploration of the US dairy sector with the goal of determining how a fair trade certification program could be most relevant, impactful, and valuable to dairy supply chains and the individuals that work in the sector across the US. Coming out of that exploration, Fair Trade USA sees clear opportunity to complement existing initiatives within and surrounding the dairy industry and bring positive impact to the sector by applying our unique standards combined with Community Development Funds and producer services.

Fair Trade USA is moving forward to create the first-ever fair trade certification in the US dairy sector. We will deliver this by expanding the scope of the Agricultural Production Standard (APS) to apply in a dairy context. Our APS, which we apply today in a wide range of commodities, countries, and production systems, serves as a strong foundation to drive positive impact for dairy workers and farmers, and reward best practices in the dairy sector.

From July to September 2020, Fair Trade USA held a public comment period to solicit feedback on the APS Draft Dairy Amendment.

We would like to thank everyone who provided feedback during this period. Your comments will help to ensure that the APS Draft Dairy Amendment drives positive impact and meets the needs of producers, workers, consumers, and businesses. Your input and subject matter expertise are incredibly valuable to us as we look to drive lasting and meaningful change in this sector. 

Feedback received during the public comment period will be reviewed and used to refine the Draft Dairy Amendment. It will be processed and analyzed in combination with learnings and data collected during field trials and audits with pilot participants. We anticipate that the revised version of Fair Trade USA’s APS will be published in Q2 of 2021.

At that time, we will update this page with a summary of the comments received, along with our responses. Until that time, we will continue to update this page with relevant supporting materials.

For any questions or comments, please email us at standards@fairtradeusa.org.