This is an article from Revolver World's Discussions series - read more and join our discussions at RevolverWorld.com/Discussions.

As part of this series of demystifying the fair trade, this post will collate a number of key definitions which are commonly used in fair trade debates:

Certified

A number of different bodies  certify the 'fairtrade' status of goods. The largest is Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO), but there are others world-wide which have different symbols.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

CSR is a term which has recently become popular. Corporations are increasingly expected to  produce positive social outcomes. These positives are produced through actions such as carbon offsetting and giving money to charities. There is much debate about the success and limitations of CSR.

'Fair Trade' v FAIRTRADE?

The FAIRTRADE Mark is a label which appears on UK products as a guarantee that they have been certified against internationally agreed standards. The term Fair Trade is used to refer to the Fair Trade movement as a whole and to the organizations which abide to the  principles of Fair Trade (such as Alternative Trade Organizations, Fair Trade federations and networks). Fair trade goods can be either labelled or unlabelled.

Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO)

FLO is an organisation which works to certify and label 'fairtrade'. FLO International is an organisation to make sure that the conditions for worldwide producers of fairtrade goods are the same.

Fairtrade minimum price

This quantifies the lowest price that a buyer of Fairtrade products can pay the producer. This set price guarantees the producers a stable livelihood. If the market price becomes higher than the Fairtrade price, the market price is paid. Only certain goods such as coffee, cotton and other food products have a minimum price. Other goods such as handicrafts have yet to be certified by the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (see above) as it is difficult to formulate a 'minimum' price, thus they are sold as 'fair trade'.

Fair trade premium

This is paid on top of the Fairtrade minimum price. The premium is invested in social, environmental and economic developmental projects, which are normally decided by the producers. Here at Revolver we aim to go beyond the basic premium and give as much back to the producers as we can.

Green-washing

Green-washing refers to the concept where companies redefine themselves as 'green' through small actions, without actually changing  their broader behavior.

Sustainable

Sustainable refers to the idea that the process is able to be continued indefinitely into the long term and can refer to economic, environmental and social issues. However there have been a number of discussions whether this is true relating to fair trade.

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