Certification is a great tool for helping the consumer identify products and companies that uphold best practice. Organic certification has been a key tool for proliferating the use of sustainable farming practices by proving consumer demand and helping people use their purchasing power to drive these changes. Similarly, Fairtrade certification has helped consumers and corporations alike ensure that workers in the Global South are treated appropriately. Beyond these, there are also broader certifications of production processes such as GlobalG.A.P. which are mostly driven by retailers.
However, human rights abuses within Europe are not sufficiently scrutinised by existing certifications, so there is work to be done. For example, GlobalG.A.P. is working on an add-on certification, and some of the stricter organic standards such as Demeter have included social responsibility.
