Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International e.V. (Fairtrade International or Fairtrade) , registered at Bonner Talweg 177, 53129 Bonn, Germany, is the legal owner of the Fairtrade Risk Map (Map).
The development of the Map was led by Fairtrade’s HREDD Centre of Excellence that can be contacted via bizhumanrights@fairtrade.fi All intellectual property rights are reserved for Fairtrade International.
The findings are neither comprehensive nor conclusive
The Map summarizes Fairtrade’s current understanding of the salient issues and root causes in the covered commodities and geographies. Available information about the risks and root causes is often fragmented, sketchy and uncertain, and lack of information does not necessarily mean that there are no risks.
The Map also does not provide information on the presence or absence of local laws and registrations. The findings contained in the Fairtrade Risk Map are therefore not comprehensive or conclusive.
We warmly welcome information that will help us to strengthen and update our assessment. Fairtrade’s HREDD Centre coordinates ongoing risk assessment and seeks to update this Map regularly.
Fairtrade has not verified external data
The Fairtrade Risk Map makes use of up-to-date external sources on human rights and environmental risks in global supply chains:
In the interest of the validity and trustworthiness of the presented information, Fairtrade’s HREDD Centre has compared information from multiple sources, datasets and perspectives, but we have not validated any third-party data.
Fairtrade International, its members or consulted producer organisations cannot be held responsible or liable for the accuracy, correctness or completeness of the information supplied since it is largely based on external sources and merely makes those more accessible.
The Map cannot substitute organisation-specific risk assessments
Industry actors and other stakeholders can utilize the Map to support but not substitute their own risk assessments or any other part of their responsibilities and obligations on human rights and environmental due diligence.
Companies and other business-related organisations have the responsibility to undertake their own risk assessments, focusing on their exact supply chains, sourcing areas, purchasing practices and business model. They are responsible for identifying and assessing the severity of their specific adverse impacts and, as the next step, identifying and implementing appropriate measures to prevent, mitigate and remediate those impacts.
The information from Fairtrade Risk Map may be used for informational purposes, under the condition that the Map is clearly referenced.
Fairtrade’s mitigating measures cannot substitute other actors’ due diligence
The pages on salient issues provide information about Fairtrade's approach in responding to these issues and many examples of our activities. The examples are specific and the described activities are not replicated across all the 6000 producer and trader organisations that we work with and certify.
Our measures cannot substitute other actors’ due diligence work: each company always remains responsible for establishing and implementing its own due diligence process. Even if companies seek an external partner for some due diligence steps, they remain responsible for selecting a suitable partner and the integration of the results into their due diligence process.
Further, Fairtrade cannot guarantee that Fairtrade is and will be recognized in all due diligence legislation and policies as fit for the purpose of supporting corporate HREDD. This depends on the specific contents of each due diligence law, policy and possible supportive regulations and fitness criteria.
Fairtrade has not defined land borders or country names
The list of countries used in the Map is ISO 3166 standard, which is based on the official list of country and territory names as defined by the United Nations Statistics Division. For the world map Google Maps is used, so the land borders and country names mentioned on this Map are not the responsibility of Fairtrade International. Use of these sources does not imply political endorsement on part of Fairtrade of any information contained therein.
Limitations and Exclusions of Liability
To the extent that the information and services on its website including the Fairtrade Risk Map are provided free of charge, neither Fairtrade International nor its members will be liable to you or your affiliates or partners for any loss or damage of any nature.
Fairtrade International reserves the right to restrict, discontinue or alter the access to the Fairtrade Risk Map at its sole discretion without notice.
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