Whereas most cocoa on the world market is bought "blind" through importers and brokers, the flow of Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa is monitored - from the farmers to the store shelf - by independent, non-profit, certifying organizations. These two organizations, FLO International and TransFair USA, guarantee that the cocoa was produced and traded in a socially responsible manner, specifically that:

• International Labor Organization Conventions 29, 105 and 138 on child labor and forced labor are adhered to.
• the cocoa was bought directly from a democratically controlled cooperative of small scale farmers. This helps them to gain more control of their livelihoods and ensures farmers a higher percentage of cocoa export revenues.
• the cooperative was paid at least $1,950 per metric ton of organic cocoa. This is much higher than the world market price over the last two years. In 2000 the market price dropped as low as $640/ton. (See chart of cocoa prices.)

Only cocoa products meeting these conditions may carry the TransFair USA's Fair Trade Certified™ label.