What Does "Fair Trade" Really Mean?

The Fairtrade principle is that producers, generally from the world's poorest countries, should be able to recieve a living wage (adequate to cover their needs) for the goods that they make.  The unfortunate reality is that a lot of the time people in the poorest parts of the world are working for starvation wages.  Moreover, the production of the product should be sustainable (not irreversibly depleting a resource).  And the conditions in which the product is produced must be as safe as we in the western world would expect of our work environments.

In the UK the term Fairtrade has also acquired a very specific meaning.  There is a Fairtrade Foundation with its own logo that they have heavily pushed for market recognition.  The idea is that when consumers see the Fairtrade logo (the blue-green Yin Yang type symbol with a dot on it), that they can instantly know that the product has been screened and accepted as meeting the Fairtrade ideals.

Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a "fair price" as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production of a wide variety of goods. It focuses in particular on exports from developing countries to developed countries, most notably handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine, fresh fruit, chocolate and flowers.
Fair trade's strategic intent is to work with marginalized producers and workers in order to help them move towards economic self-sufficiency and stability. It also aims to allow them to become greater stakeholders in their own organizations as well as play a wider role, and achieve greater equity, in international trade. Fair trade proponents include a number of international development aid, social, religious and environmental organizations such as Christian Aid, SERRV International, Oxfam, Amnesty International, Catholic Relief Services, and Caritas International.