Proponents believe the scheme, the Thailand Fair Trade Standard, will help more Thai entrepreneurs penetrate international markets.

Nuttaphong Jaruwannaphong, director of the Thai Social Enterprise Office, told a Bangkok forum yesterday that the fair trade standard would be used to define social enterprise companies and they would be entitled to a lot of benefits, such as reduced tax, low-interest loans and product orders from the government sector.

The draft of the fair trade standard was revealed at the forum, while the Social Enterprise Promotion Act is expected to be implemented within the next three months.

Under the draft there were 10 criteria for being a social enterprise company. One is that a company must help underprivileged people. It must also be transparent and responsible, and it must practice fair business.

A company must also sell goods at fair prices. It must also not use or be linked to child or forced labour, and must take care of its employees based on the same standard for all.

The other criteria include having a good working environment, providing employees with chances to improve their careers, help promote public awareness about fair trade and care for the environment.

Sarinee Achavanuntakul is managing director for Knowledge Development at Sal Forest Co Ltd, which aims to jumpstart and sustain a public discourse on sustainable business. Sarinee told the forum that Thailand having its own fair trade standard would help consumers and producers maintain good trade while also helping to guarantee fair entrepreneurs’ products internationally. The label would make it easier for consumers to decide on a purchase, she said.

She said that while the trend of social enterprise companies kept growing, many big companies were also trying to have their products seen under this light.

She said Thailand still had no clear standard to define or control such a label. Each company was left to decide and come up with their own practice of “fair trade”.

Thailand standardising fair trade practices could help elevate the standard of Thai goods and they would be seen as more reliable, Sarinee said.

But she stressed it was important the label was controlled by the private or non-government sector not the government, so the scheme was seen as being more trustworthy.

Dignity Returns consists of 10 members who used to work in a clothing factory that treated its staff unfairly.

Manop Kaewpaka, a representative of Dignity Returns, said the company had always complied with the fair trade standard but remained uncertified because Thailand did not have a definition for such a standard.

“This made me miss an order from Australian clients who required the fair trade certification,” he said.

He said because there was no agency in Thailand that could back his firm’s fair trade bona fides, the company would have to apply to get a fair trade certificate from an international agency.

That would cost about Bt100,000, he said.