What Is The Difference Between Fair Trade Gold versus Fairmined and Fairtrade Gold
By Marc Choyt, President of Reflective Images (Artisan Wedding Rings)
Founder of Fair Jewelry Action, USA
In the market today, we see fairtrade and fairmined gold. Yet we are selling fair trade gold. What is the difference? Essentially, there is no difference in the gold itself. Fair trade gold is the same as fairtrade and fairmined gold. The difference lies in third party certification.
Fairtrade and fairmined gold are terms that are trademarked by the Fair Labeling Organization (FLO) and the Alliance For Responsible mining (ARM). This gold was introduced to the United Kingdom last February. A select few jewelers entered the system as 'license holders', which allowed them to use the fairtrade and fairmined trade mark label developed by the Alliance for Responsible Mining and the Fair Labeling Organization. These jewelers pay a small percentage of the purchase of any fairtrade and fairmined gold back to FLO, who provides a third party audits.
The gold that we sell is from the same sources as that fairtrade and fairmined gold. Though certified fairmined and fairtrade gold has been available through jewelers in UK since February, it has not been possible for jewelers obtain this certification in the US. The delay has partly been caused by internal FLO politics. Fair Trade USA is leaving the FLO network and therefore unable to initiate new projects with FLO. At present, there is no organization located in the US to partner with FLO and introduce the fairtrade and fairmined label.
As the Director of Fair Jewelry Action, I emailed the CEO of FLO several months ago, proposing that FJA would sponsor the label. This was not accepted, because at the time, there was still a partnership between Fair Trade USA and FLO. Since that time, I have still been trying to find a way to make my product with fair trade gold. It meant not waiting for the structures to be formally put in place.
When I learned of a European gold refiner that sources from the same mines that are certified by FLO-CERT, I felt it was a moral imperative to support this initiative and offer this gold to my customers right away. Since I am not licensed, however, I cannot call this gold fairmined and fairtade. I have to call it 'fair trade gold'.
It is critical to me that we support this new fair trade gold model as quickly as possible for the benefit of the small scale mining community. To do this, we need fair trade gold in the US market. I have chosen to take the initiative to do this now, rather than wait for the organizations to put their structures in place. However, as I am selling fair trade gold at my company, I am also spearheading, as the Director of Fair Jewelry Action in coordination with Ethical Metalsmiths, an initiative to bring fairtrade and fairmined gold to the US market.
In fact, in October, 2011, I hosted a meeting at my house in Santa Fe, New Mexico, of the key people in the North American ethical sourcing movement. Our decision was to support the introduction of fairmined and fairtrade gold into the US market in 2012. At that point, a select number of US jewelers, including myself, will be third party certified by FLO and able to offer fairmined and fairtrade gold.
In order to honor the current system and not take any advantage over my colleagues who sell fair trade gold rings, I will donate the same percentage off every sale of a fair trade gold wedding ring that UK jewelers who are license holders donate to FLO, directly to the Alliance for Responsible Mining, which is building capacity with small scale miners around the world so that more fair trade gold can enter the supply chain.
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