The Fair Toys Organization is supported by various stakeholder groups: toy retailers, toy producers and civil society organizations and institutions that have been campaigning for labour and human rights as well as environmental issues for years. If they come to a joint statement or assessment, it has a very high level of credibility.

Many manufacturers are confronted with similar problems. The Fair Toys Organization also sees itself as a learning platform for developing solutions. In addition, the joint approach of several companies increases the ability to influence producers and can save costs.

By becoming a member of the Fair Toys Organization, a toy retailer documents that fair working conditions, ecological sustainability and the continuous improvement of social and environmental standards in the toy industry and in its product range are of central importance to it. This also creates transparency for you as a retailer.

Members can communicate their membership publicly. Customers can find out about the commitment of the member companies in the company profiles (published only in the German version of this website). By awarding a seal to manufacturers, the commitment of the entire company to fair working conditions and ecological sustainability is also recognizable to consumers on products

As a toy manufacturer, you apply for admission to the FTO. A step-by-step process then starts, which is intended to continuously prepare you for the award of the seal and at the same time ensure that the required standards are progressively met (see FTO strategy paper and FPC_Manual (PDF-Download)). This process includes the following elements:

• Location assessment (FTO questionnaire)
• Action plan (approx. annually, together with the FTO)
• Fair Performance Check (approx. annually by the FTO)
• Fair Toys seal

As a toy retailer, you can communicate your membership of the Fair Toys Organization, but the awarding of a seal is not intended. You act as a multiplier and spread and promote the idea of the Fair Toys Organization.

The annual membership fee for members from civil society varies depending on the size of the organization. For manufacturing companies, membership fees are based on toy sales. You can find more detailed information in our membership fee regulations (PDF-Download, German).

You apply for membership of the Fair Toys Organization. To do so, you must submit a membership application (PDF-Download, German) and complete a short questionnaire (PDF-Download, German). The board then decides on your membership by majority vote.

The personnel and project costs of the Fair Toys Organization are currently financed on the one hand by membership fees. On the other hand, grants from government agencies or foundations are also used. Until the end of 2024, the Fair Toys Organization received financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, among others.

The Fair Toys Organization awards a company seal, not an individual product seal. The company is therefore considered as a whole. In the case of particularly broad-based companies, the seal refers only to the toy division. The basis for awarding the seal is the assessment of the head office as part of the Fair Performance Check. Further information can be found in the strategy paper and the FPC manual

The Fair Performance Check is carried out approximately once a year at the member company and decides on the continued use of the seal. Further information can be found in the strategy paper and the FPC manual (PDF-Download).