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About WFTO

The Board

THE BOARD

WFTO is democratically run by its members on a one-(full guaranteed)member-one-vote basis. The Board and President are elected by the members, who also vote on the strategy, budgets and updates to our Fair Trade Principles, together with any other major change to the organisation.

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Roopa Mehta

President

Roopa Mehta leads Sasha Association for Craft Producers (India), an exemplary WFTO member selling fashion and home products around the world. Her association with Fair Trade began in 1978 and she moved over full time to Sasha in 1985. She has served on the board of Fair Trade Forum India and the Asia WFTO board. She was voted on to the WFTO Global board as an independent board member in May 2011. Roopa completed an Economic honours course, followed with an MBA degree from Delhi University. She began her career with a leading Indian chain of hotels and moved on to be an Executive Director of a company producing and retailing high-end women’s clothing using traditional dyeing, printing and embroidery techniques.

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Pieter Swart

Treasurer

Pieter Swart is the WFTO Africa and Middle East representative to the board. Pieter works for Turqle Trading (South Africa).

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Luis Heller

Secretary

Luis is the WFTO Latin America regional representative to the board. Luis works for Allpa (Peru).

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Sophie Tack

Board Member

Sophie Tack is the WFTO Europe regional representative to the board. Sophie works for Oxfam Magasins du Monde (Belgium).

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Sunil Chitrakar

Board Member

Sunil Chitrakar is the regional representative for WFTO Asia. As the CEO of the Organization, he provides leadership at Mahaguthi Craft with Conscience. He is also the Vice President of Fair Trade Group Nepal and Federation of Handicraft Association of Nepal. For over 4 years, Sunil has been a faculty Member at School of Management, Tribhuvan University where he earned his Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship and Marketing.

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Chris Solt

Board member

Chris Solt is the WFTO Pacific representative to the board, based in the United States. As Executive Director of the Fair Trade Federation (FTF), Chris leads the strategic, administrative, and programmatic aspects of the FTF, a trade association of fair trade enterprises in the US and Canada, which is also a fair trade network member of the WFTO. Prior to joining the FTF, Chris spent over ten years with Ten Thousand Villages US, developing the capacity of their retail network of fair trade stores, and leading training seminars, events, and conferences. Chris earned a BA in Social Science at Cleveland State University, and a Master’s Degree in Organisational Leadership with a Graduate Certificate in Human Resources from Southern New Hampshire University.

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Giorgio Dal Fiume

Board Member

Giorgio Dal Fiume is an independent board member. He was a President of WFTO-Europe from 2010 until 2017 and has been involved in Fair Trade since 1992. He worked as a President of Ctm Altromercato (Italian FT importer) from 1998 to 2007, visited and audited dozens of Fair Trade organisations. He coordinated “Terra Equa”, Festival on Fair Trade and Social Economy and is an author of several articles and publications on Fair Trade and Intercultural issues.

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Swapan Kumar Das

Board Member

Swapan Kumar Das started his career with Mennonite Central Committee in 1986 as an Agricultural Extensionist to work with grassroots farmers to motivate them in cultivating soybean as a new crop in Bangladesh. Later he moved to MCC’s Job Creation Program and worked in the fields of financial management, internal auditing, fund management, administration and Human Resource Management of international non-government organisations based in Bangladesh. He was the head of the financial and administrative services department of MCC, Bangladesh since 2006. After working with MCC for more than 25 years, he moved to Prokritee as its CEO in late 2010. Swapan Das has been playing the roles of Chairperson of ECOTA Fair Trade Country Network for the last 7 years in a row, Vice-President of World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) Asia for the last three years, one of the Directors of Jute Sector Industry Skills Council (ISC) of the National Skills Development Authority (NSDA) in Bangladesh.
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Indro Dasgupta

Board Member
Indro Dasgupta is an independent board member. Indro works for Craft Resource Center, India. Previously, Indro worked in the corporate sector in various roles for 17 years before he decided to be a full-time Fair Trader. He firmly believes that income generation for marginalised artisans, through Fair Trade, is one of the most viable routes to alleviating the alarming and chronic levels of poverty and income inequality that we observe in the world today. Indro holds a Bachelors and Master’s degrees in Economics from the University of Calcutta and the University of Delhi, India. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, where he also serves as Adjunct Faculty in Economics.
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If you want to contact any of our staff members (not Board) please write to the First Name (ex: Paul)@wfto.com

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WFTO Membership & Associate Types

  • Fair Trade Organisations (FTO)

    All trading members of WFTO. This includes all organisations that have more than half of their income and/or more than €100,000 in income from trade.

  • Fair Trade Support Organisations (FTSO)

    An organisation whose primary mission is to support Fair Trade and/or provide services to organisations that are or want to become Fair Trade Organisations.

  • Fair Trade Networks (FTN)

    An organisation which is an association of organisations committed to Fair Trade.

  • Individual Associates (IA)

    Individual Associates are supporters of the Fair Trade movement with limited rights. The WFTO Guarantee System does not apply to them.

  • Associate Organisations (AO)

    Associate Organisations align with WFTO’s values but after their application. They do not undergo monitoring and also have limited rights.

WFTO Guarantee System Monitoring Statuses

  • Candidates

    Candidates have been conditionally approved for membership but have not completed their first monitoring cycle under the WFTO Guarantee System. They have limited rights within WFTO. They may not use the WFTO Member Mark and Product Label or claim that they are monitored by WFTO.

  • Guaranteed Members

    Guaranteed members have met the WFTO Membership requirements and are monitored under the WFTO Guarantee System.

  • Member

    Organisations that have no or little income from trade go through a reduced version of the WFTO Guarantee System that does not include criteria related to trade. These organisations may use the WFTO Member Mark but cannot use the Product Label for any products they may be trading to support their mission. This status only applies to Fair Trade Networks (FTN) and Support Organisations (FTSO).

  • Renewal in Progress

    Members who are in the process of renewing their guaranteed status and are overdue on some requirements retain full rights while they work to meet the demands of the Guarantee System on an administrative or compliance level.

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WHO CAN APPLY

WFTO welcomes applications from established Fair Trade Organisations as well as organisations that support Fair Trade. Individuals in their capacity as researchers, writers, consultants and specialists in their field who can contribute solid skills, knowledge and expertise to WFTO and members are also welcome.

Add Your Heading Text Initial requirements for organisations:

  • Compliance with the WFTO 10 Principles of Fair Trade. Please have a look at the WFTO Fair Trade Standard for more specific information on compliance with these principles.

  • All applicant organisations must already be duly registered (as a legal entity) and active for at least one year.

Who can apply?

  • Fair Trade Organisations (FTO)

    All companies, partnerships, co-partnerships and other legal bodies – as determined by the legal provisions of the country of the member concerned – that are directly engaged in Fair Trade. They may be producers or northern or southern based trading FTOs for whom Fair Trade is the main activity. To qualify for FTO membership, income from sales (turnover) must account for 50% or more of the total income. Applications for FTO membership cannot be accepted from organisations with no prior sales history.

  • Fair Trade Networks (FTN)

    Legal entities whose primary function is to serve as national or international associations of Fair Trade producers and/or Fair Trade Organisations.

  • Fair Trade Support Organisations (FTSO)

    Fair Trade Organisations where trading is not the main activity (proportion of trade is less than 50% of total income). These organisations are engaged in Fair Trade indirectly, through activities that promote and support Fair Trade. These activities can include business counselling, finance, advocacy or networking.

  • Associate Organisations

    This is a special category for national or international organisations that are interested in supporting and promoting Fair Trade, including donor organisations. Organisations that do not meet the one-year legal existence requirement also fit in this group.

  • Individual Associates

    Individual researchers, writers, consultants and specialists in their field that can support WFTO. WFTO expects its individual associates to be active Fair Trade supporters whose experience and expertise in their own particular field can be of practical benefit to WFTO's members. To apply, please submit a curriculum vitae.

    While FTO, FTN and FTSO are entitled to full WFTO membership, organizational and individual associates have only limited rights.

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OUR PRODUCT LABEL

The WFTO Product Label is more than just a Fair Trade symbol. It signifies not only that the practices across the supply chain are checked against the WFTO Fair Trade Standard, but it also represents support to the battle against poverty and inequality. Products carrying the WFTO Label are made and traded by Guaranteed Fair Trade Organisations dedicated to the sustainable Fair Trade economy. Every purchase of products with the WFTO Label supports small producers and their communities.

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