Fair Rubber Association

The Fair Rubber Association (Fair Rubber e.V) is a non-governmental organization registered under German law. Its purpose is to apply the principles of fair trade to products made of natural rubber, to help improve the working and living conditions of the primary producers of natural rubber, such as tappers and small farmers.

History
The first fair trade project for rubber was initiated in 2006 by FairDeal Trading Llp, a small British pioneer in fairly traded sports balls, who was trying to make their products more environmentally sustainable. With more than 60% of a standard soccer ball consisting of rubber, they sought suppliers willing to become partners in a fair trade rubber project. This attracted the attention of a condom manufacturer and a mattress manufacturer in Germany, who placed their products under the same fair trade conditions. As additional companies became interested, including a household gloves trader from the U.S., an independent organization was set up to run the fair trade project. This organization, the Fair Rubber Association, was founded on June 21, 2012. Since its founding more traders and NGOs have continued to join.

Criteria for fairly traded rubber
The criteria for fairly traded natural rubber are closely aligned to the criteria of the FairTrade Labelling Organization (FLO) International for tea. This is in part because in India and Sri Lanka, from where fairly traded natural rubber is sourced, tea and rubber plantations often belong to the same owners, and the workers are represented by the same trade unions. Additionally, Martin Kunz, the Executive Secretary of the Fair Rubber Association, had a central role in establishing the criteria for fair trade-labelled tea during his time as general secretary of TransFair International (TFI). At the center of this first fair trade-labelled product from plantations, was a fixed extra payment per kilogram of produce traded. This "fair trade premium" is paid into a separate bank account, and decision-making power for how the money is spent rests with a joint body made up of a committee of elected members of the workforce and management delegates. The fair trade premium may only be used for the improvement of the working and living conditions of the plantation employees. In the case of small farmer associations, the association's board that makes decisions regarding how the premium is spent. The fair trade premium paid by the members of the Fair Rubber Association is 0.50 EUR per kg of dry rubber content (DRC) on top of the market price of rubber. The Association's logo may be used on products for which this fair trade premium has been paid.

Environmental considerations
The Fair Rubber Association holds that one key component of fair trade is to assist in making the environment safer for producers and consumers through promoting sustainability in products and production. Taking harmful chemicals out of farming is of benefit to the primary producers, and while natural rubber is not suitable for all applications, it is superior to synthetic rubbers in terms of environmental benefits. Synthetic or artificial rubber is a petroleum-based product which has the potential to contribute to climate change. Additionally, the trees from which natural rubber is tapped have such a high leaf density, that they absorb more carbon dioxide than the tropical rain forest.

Organizational structure
The Fair Rubber Association is organized up as a multi-stakeholder initiative that seeks the best possible compromise is sought between social, environmental, and commercial interests. However, the chairperson of the association is always an individual who has no commercial interests in rubber.

Achievements
Fairly traded condoms were one of the first products to apply the fair trade criteria of the Fair Rubber Association. Other products include mattresses, household gloves, flip-flops, balloons, hot water bottles, rubber boots, elastic bands, and rubber band balls. In the first year of its existence, the members of the Fair Rubber Association purchased almost 150 metric tons of natural rubber under the Association's criteria, amounting to fair trade premium payments of almost 75,000 EUR. Projects for which these fair trade premium payments were used included:
 * Securing safe drinking water (as a result of global warming previously safe water supplies are increasingly drying up).
 * Arranging for electricity supply to a remote worker hamlet.
 * Paying for a supplementary pension fund for retired plantation workers.
 * Providing help for medical and other emergencies.