Fairtrade is proposing a strengthened approach to managing risks across the supply chain as part of the evolution of its Standards to support producer organisations, traders, and businesses to identify, assess, and address the growing range of social and environmental risks affecting Fairtrade products. 

Why are the standards evolving? 

The proposed changes come as farmers, workers, and companies face mounting pressures from climate change, widening social inequalities, rising production costs, and an increasingly complex regulatory landscape. Fairtrade recognises that organisations across the supply chain need to adopt more systematic approaches to identifying and managing risks to address these challenges. 

Fairtrade has embedded the identification and management of human rights and environmental risks into the evolved standards taking a risk-based approach. This approach follows internationally recognised due diligence processes while using language and guidance that is practical for producers and businesses. 

The approach strengthens management systems in producer organisations, helping them identify the risks affecting their members, workers, and the environment, while defining the actions they need to take to address them. The standards establish a minimum level of action on key social and environmental issues while supporting organisations to focus resources on additional actions where risks are greatest. 

Putting risk management into practice 

Existing requirements have been brought together to support strong management systems that follow the cycle of identifying risks, planning actions, implementing improvements, and monitoring results making it easier for producer organisations to implement effective risk management. 

The evolved standards are supported by Fairtrade's own risk assessment tools. These include the Fairtrade Risk Map, which identifies the human rights and environmental risks associated with specific products and countries where Fairtrade products are sourced.  

The social and environmental requirements that producer organisations must comply with under the evolved standards are determined by the risks that the organisation faces for each topic. This will help ensure action is targeted where it is needed most. Compliance will continue to be independently verified through Fairtrade's robust third-party certification system, providing credible evidence that risks are being addressed in practice. 

Benefits for businesses and supply chains  

For traders and commercial partners, the evolved standards provide a clearer framework for assessing and managing risks within Fairtrade supply chains. They also help businesses demonstrate compliance with emerging supply chain due diligence regulations, including Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) requirements and the EU Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (EMPCO), while strengthening the evidence available to support credible sustainability claims. 

Producer organisations, traders, and commercial partners are currently providing feedback on the evolved Standards through Fairtrade's public consultation process. Conversations with both producer organisations and commercial partners is showing the approach to embedding risk management into the standards is welcomed. 

Initial feedback from producers indicates that the framework is practical and straightforward to implement because it provides a clear methodology for identifying risks, builds on information they already collect, and helps prioritise actions based on the issues they face locally. 

Commercial partners highlighted the value of the approach in responding to growing expectations around supply chain risk management. Many have pointed to the Fairtrade Risk Map as an established tool they already use and say the evolved standards provide practical support for managing supply chain risks and meeting regulatory expectations. 

Take part in the consultation 

The public consultation on the evolved Fairtrade Standards is open until 31 August 2026. Producer organisations, traders, commercial partners, and other stakeholders are invited to provide feedback to help inform the standards before they are finalised. 

Fairtrade is encouraging all interested stakeholders to take part in the consultation and help shape the next generation of Fairtrade Standards information about the consultation, the proposed standards and accompanying tools, are available on the Fairtrade consultation platform.