Fair trade requires transparency, dialogue and mutual respect. Confidence in trade partners and their engagement is the key to Fair Stone activities. Nonetheless, inspections are necessary. Fair Stone controls its partners and suppliers regularly, with announced audits as well as unannounced inspections/control visits.
The Fair Stone control system is based on three pillars: Self-improvement, 2nd party control visits by Fair Stone and independent 3rd party audits.
Every supplier has to prepare for the annual FS BASIC Audits. These requirements of the audits increase each year of participation. Guidance documents and implementation help support the participating factories to handle their standard implementation.
Announced and unannounced control visits by the Fair Stone Team are conducted regularly in Asian factories to monitor the implementation progress and to check the correct logo usage. During these visits the next steps in the Fair Stone process are discussed and agreed upon by the representative, the partner and the factory management. Additionally our traceability software TFS2 is used to monitor the Partner’s and Supplier’s activities. Every order that is supposed to be labelled as Fair Stone has to be entered in it. Fair Stone checks the order and conducts inspections at random. If all is correct, order specific QR-codes are created that have to be attached to each shipment mark or packaging unit. Only materials that are traceable in this way are Fair Stone products. Supply chain data is only giving out in anonymized/codified manner, to ensure the confidentiality of the supply chain.
After at least five years, an external full-scope Audit (FSA) conducted by an accredited auditor has to take place. The Fair Stone Partners commission the audit and pay for the audit. Fair Stone e.V. has no influence on the outcome of this external verification of the Fair Stone criteria. The Full-scope Audit (FSA) has to be repeated every three years.
