Ethical labels not fit for purpose, report warns consumers

Schemes including Fairtrade and FSC may serve to mask human rights abuses and allow government inaction, study claims

Many of the world's leading certification standards are not only failing to improve the ethical conduct of large corporations but are serving to entrench abusive business practices, a damning new report argues.

The study of 40 global voluntary initiatives, including emblematic on-pack labelling schemes such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Fairtrade International, identifies multiple failures in what it refers to as a grand experiment" in corporate accountability.

These kinds of initiatives are not effective tools for holding corporations accountable for abuses or for protecting rights holders against human rights violations," says Amelia Evans, executive director at MSI Integrity, the US-based human rights group behind the research.

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