Fairtrade International is undergoing one of the most notable changes in its history by updating its standards, including the introduction of a risk-based approach as a key innovation.

What exactly does a risk-based approach to standards mean?

In practice, it allows producers to focus their efforts on implementing social and environmental requirements that address the most pressing issues they face on their farms.

The risk-based approach will enable prioritisation of social and environmental criteria for producer organisations, based on the risks they are facing. Management and economic criteria will still always apply to all producers regardless of circumstances.

Until now, Fairtrade Standards defined the order and timing in which social and environmental requirements were implemented by all producers, taking a “one-size-fits-all” approach. However, many producers reported that this didn’t fit well with their circumstances and deviated efforts from issues that mattered more.

By using a risk-based approach, producers will focus on implementing the full set of criteria for the risks they need to address, while reducing effort to a few basic actions for issues that are less relevant.

This risk-based approach is a proposal that all Fairtrade members and stakeholders will be able to comment on during the upcoming public consultation that will run from June - August 2026.

Why this approach

Fairtrade is adopting this model because the social and environmental risks farmers are facing continue to grow, driving an expansion of standards that can be burdensome to implement. Prioritising requirements based on identified risks aims to make actions more relevant to producers’ realities, including targeted use of Fairtrade Premium funds, simplifying reporting and communication of actions on those critical issues.

The shift also aligns with Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) regulations, including those being developed in the European Union, which require companies to address the most serious risks in their supply chains first. Fairtrade already introduced HREDD requirements for hired labour organisations and traders and is now embedding this approach across its standards.

By using this approach, Fairtrade will help farmers focus on the most pressing challenges they face, while giving traders and licensees clearer visibility of supply chain risks, enabling more targeted support and greater overall impact.

How will it work in practice

The process begins with a risk assessment. Producers use a simple tool to see the risk levels for social and environmental topics for their product and country that are defined in the public Fairtrade Risk Map. The Fairtrade Risk Map draws on regularly updated global data and is undergoing a major development this year.

These risk levels determine which standard criteria they must comply with. Producers with a high risk for a particular topic will need to meet all the existing criteria. For example, those at high risk of child labour must raise awareness, implement prevention policies, and establish remediation procedures. Producers with medium or low risk levels for that topic will need to comply with fewer requirements, focusing on prevention and awareness as appropriate.

Producers then complete a self-assessment to identify how the risks affect their members and which groups are most affected. Structured questions help producers’ pinpoint issues and target action. New risks can also be identified. For example, evidence of migrant worker vulnerability can raise a producer’s forced labour risk level and require additional action to prevent forced labour from occurring.

To cut duplication, the tool will allow producers to submit evidence if they have an additional certification with similar risk mitigation criteria that is credibly audited.

Once the assessment is complete, producers implement the relevant criteria in the standard. Risk levels can still be adjusted during audits, ensuring any newly identified issues are addressed.

Benefits of the approach

The risk-based approach reduces the number of criteria producers must meet for low-and medium-risk issues, allowing them to target actions toward the highest risks and most affected groups, and improving the relevance of actions, efficiency, and effectiveness of implementation.

And because producers prioritise actions based on those risks, businesses better understand how certification addresses key issues, and can direct additional support, investment, and advocacy where it is needed most.