Contents
New member of the FLOCERT Supervisory Board: Emmanual Arthur
Since December 2013, the FLOCERT Supervisory Board has a new member: Emmanuel Arthur. Being from a producer organization himself, he is an ideal choice to represent our customers’ interests, in particular those of producers, in the Supervisory Board, following his predecessor Juan Henriquez, who also came from a producer organization. Emmanuel Arthur is an expert on the cocoa industry and rural development in Ghana. Born in Kumasi, Ghana, he holds, among others, an Executive Master in Business Administration and Bachelor’s degrees in Education and Law. After working as a teacher, he has held positions at Kuapa Kokoo, a Ghanaian cooperative for cocoa production and marketing, since 2002. In 2012 he became Managing Director of Kuapa Kokoo Limited. Emmanuel is a member of the Board of Directors of Divine Chocolate Limited and a member of the Board of Fairtrade Africa – West Africa Network. He has recently been involved in Fairtrade International’s efforts to address child labor issues in cocoa production in Ghana and Ivory Coast, and has conducted research in the Fairtrade cotton production in the Sub-Saharan region.
Customer Satisfaction Survey 2014
We are currently carrying out a Customer Satisfaction Survey to find out how we can further improve our services for you. In the first phase of the survey, we invited all customers to give us their opinions via an online questionnaire. Now we are in the second phase, conducting phone interviews with a smaller number of customers who have agreed to answer more in-depth questions in advance. We would like to thank you for taking part in the survey – we really appreciate your input and will leverage it to further improve our service.
New Website and logo for FLOCERT
After more than ten years certifying the world’s Fairtrade supply chains, we are delighted to introduce our new website and brand identity. The new FLOCERT brand identity is based on the vision of fair global trade everyone can believe in. The clasped hands of our new logo emphasize the idea of fairness in business, and of equal exchange. You will soon see certificates being issued with the new look – but of course all certificates remain valid, even if they still carry our previous logo. Please note that the new brand identity and logo are for FLOCERT, and that the familiar Fairtrade logo (as seen on www.fairtrade.net) has not changed. The new website is designed to be more user-friendly, offering easier navigation and a better experience for mobile phone users. The website address remains the same (www.flo-cert.net) and you should find that all important information and functions are available to you – for example, the login for Ecert and WebFLOTIS. For the moment, the new website is available in English – a Spanish version will go online in June.
If you have any issues or questions, please get in touch by e-mailing to feedback@flo-cert.net.
Policy change for Migrant Labour in the Dominican Republic (Hired Labour)
We would like to inform you that the Policy for Migrant Labour in the Dominican Republic for Hired Labour Companies has been extended. This is due to the decision by authorities in the Dominican Republic to limit the number of foreigners in the total workforce to a maximum of 20%, which might restrict the majority of Haitian workers from obtaining a working visa. For more details, please consult the Policy available on the FLOCERT website: click here
New functionality in Ecert: “My checklist!”
Since 3 May, FLOCERT’s Ecert web portal has a different look, and now reflects the FLOCERT corporate colors. It also offers you an additional functionality: Under „My checklist“, you can now see all criteria which are relevant for your next audit in a concise overview. The list takes your organizational setup, products, and position in the certification cycle into account and only displays your specific criteria. With the introduction of this functionality we would like to make audit preparations easier for you – for this purpose you will no longer need to view the public compliance criteria on the FLOCERT homepage which contain all criteria. The new functionality is available under the „my data“ tab in your Ecert web portal. If you have any questions on this topic, please contact ecert@flo-cert.net.
Pilot project for combined audits with Mayacert
In a pilot project, FLOCERT and the organic certification body Mayacert have now started paving the way for combined audits for customers in Central America with both Fairtrade and organic certifications. The partnership will give Fairtrade producers and traders who are multi-certified for the first time the possibility to have a combined Fairtrade and organic audit on site, carried out by one auditor. For our customers this means access to a pool of certification expertise at reduced audit times and fees, as well as easier administration and management workload from within their organizations. read more
Auditor corner: Erich Eger
I was hired by FLOCERT on my birthday eight years ago – on 4 June, 2006. Initially, I performed between six and eight audits per year, for Small Producers Organization in Guatemala, mainly in coffee and honey. Now, I carry out around 45 audits per year for Traders, Small Producer Organizations, and Hired Labour in various sustainable supply chains in Central America, The Caribbean and the United States of America. This has given to me the unique opportunity to develop and demonstrate my skills and my abilities in very different business environments. Read more
Contents
New member of the FLOCERT Supervisory Board: Emmanual Arthur
Since December 2013, the FLOCERT Supervisory Board has a new member: Emmanuel Arthur. Being from a producer organization himself, he is an ideal choice to represent our customers’ interests, in particular those of producers, in the Supervisory Board, following his predecessor Juan Henriquez, who also came from a producer organization. Emmanuel Arthur is an expert on the cocoa industry and rural development in Ghana. Born in Kumasi, Ghana, he holds, among others, an Executive Master in Business Administration and Bachelor’s degrees in Education and Law. After working as a teacher, he has held positions at Kuapa Kokoo, a Ghanaian cooperative for cocoa production and marketing, since 2002. In 2012 he became Managing Director of Kuapa Kokoo Limited. Emmanuel is a member of the Board of Directors of Divine Chocolate Limited and a member of the Board of Fairtrade Africa – West Africa Network. He has recently been involved in Fairtrade International’s efforts to address child labor issues in cocoa production in Ghana and Ivory Coast, and has conducted research in the Fairtrade cotton production in the Sub-Saharan region.
Customer Satisfaction Survey 2014
We are currently carrying out a Customer Satisfaction Survey to find out how we can further improve our services for you. In the first phase of the survey, we invited all customers to give us their opinions via an online questionnaire. Now we are in the second phase, conducting phone interviews with a smaller number of customers who have agreed to answer more in-depth questions in advance. We would like to thank you for taking part in the survey – we really appreciate your input and will leverage it to further improve our service.
New Website and logo for FLOCERT
After more than ten years certifying the world’s Fairtrade supply chains, we are delighted to introduce our new website and brand identity. The new FLOCERT brand identity is based on the vision of fair global trade everyone can believe in. The clasped hands of our new logo emphasize the idea of fairness in business, and of equal exchange. You will soon see certificates being issued with the new look – but of course all certificates remain valid, even if they still carry our previous logo. Please note that the new brand identity and logo are for FLOCERT, and that the familiar Fairtrade logo (as seen on www.fairtrade.net) has not changed. The new website is designed to be more user-friendly, offering easier navigation and a better experience for mobile phone users. The website address remains the same (www.flo-cert.net) and you should find that all important information and functions are available to you – for example, the login for Ecert and WebFLOTIS. For the moment, the new website is available in English – a Spanish version will go online in June.
If you have any issues or questions, please get in touch by e-mailing to feedback@flo-cert.net.
Policy change for Migrant Labour in the Dominican Republic (Hired Labour)
We would like to inform you that the Policy for Migrant Labour in the Dominican Republic for Hired Labour Companies has been extended. This is due to the decision by authorities in the Dominican Republic to limit the number of foreigners in the total workforce to a maximum of 20%, which might restrict the majority of Haitian workers from obtaining a working visa. For more details, please consult the Policy available on the FLOCERT website: click here
New functionality in Ecert: “My checklist!”
Since 3 May, FLOCERT’s Ecert web portal has a different look, and now reflects the FLOCERT corporate colors. It also offers you an additional functionality: Under „My checklist“, you can now see all criteria which are relevant for your next audit in a concise overview. The list takes your organizational setup, products, and position in the certification cycle into account and only displays your specific criteria. With the introduction of this functionality we would like to make audit preparations easier for you – for this purpose you will no longer need to view the public compliance criteria on the FLOCERT homepage which contain all criteria. The new functionality is available under the „my data“ tab in your Ecert web portal. If you have any questions on this topic, please contact ecert@flo-cert.net.
Pilot project for combined audits with Mayacert
In a pilot project, FLOCERT and the organic certification body Mayacert have now started paving the way for combined audits for customers in Central America with both Fairtrade and organic certifications. The partnership will give Fairtrade producers and traders who are multi-certified for the first time the possibility to have a combined Fairtrade and organic audit on site, carried out by one auditor. For our customers this means access to a pool of certification expertise at reduced audit times and fees, as well as easier administration and management workload from within their organizations. read more
Auditor corner: Erich Eger
I was hired by FLOCERT on my birthday eight years ago – on 4 June, 2006. Initially, I performed between six and eight audits per year, for Small Producers Organization in Guatemala, mainly in coffee and honey. Now, I carry out around 45 audits per year for Traders, Small Producer Organizations, and Hired Labour in various sustainable supply chains in Central America, The Caribbean and the United States of America. This has given to me the unique opportunity to develop and demonstrate my skills and my abilities in very different business environments. Read more