In an historic decision, members of the global Fairtrade system have voted unanimously to increase producer representation in the General Assembly to 50 percent, making producers half-owners of the global Fairtrade system.

The vote has been broadly welcomed as strengthening Fairtrade’s ownership model; networks of certified producer organizations have been co-owners of the system alongside labelling initiatives from consumer countries since 2006. The new shared ownership model means that producers will now have an equal voice in the highest decision-making body of Fairtrade.

In recent years Fairtrade's governance structure has received increased attention, both from academics and practitioners. There has been a growing consensus that the imbalance in the General Assembly needed to be addressed. Previously the 21 labelling initiatives maintained significantly greater representation than the three producer networks. This meant that the labelling initiatives held a casting vote on a range of issues including: membership, annual accounts, new Board members and changes to the constitution. In the future the Assembly will include an equal number of delegates from Fairtrade labelling initiatives and the producer networks with each delegate holding one vote.

Ian Bretman, Executive Vice Chair of the Board of Fairtrade International, who led the governance review project stated that, “This reaffirms our faith in multi-stakeholder governance and sits alongside wide scale efforts to streamline the Fairtrade system so that our processes work more effectively with greater speed for every actor in the system.”

“This decision is path breaking, it’s a very progressive approach,” said Bharath Mandanna, the interim chair of Network of Asian Producers (NAP). “We hope to get the message across to consumers on the importance of producer voices in any ethical certification scheme so that this decision will bring major growth.”

The General Assembly also voted to welcome South Africa as a full member in the Fairtrade system. This is the first producer country to also be recognized as a labelling initiative. Fairtrade sales in South Africa grew exponentially in 2010, reaching an estimated R 18.4 million, up from R 5.7 million in 2009. For more information on the great change for Fairtrade South Africa, visit their website.

For a full report visit the Fairtrade International website.