The worldwide leading voluntary sustainability standard for the post-harvest textile value chain for certified organic fibres, covering environmental criteria, human rights, social criteria and business conduct.
") context, the ability to trace a GOTS Good as it moves through its supply chain. | | [ Trader](https://gots.vorschau.website/resources/glossary/trader) | Entity trading with (=buying and selling) [GOTS Goods](https://gots.vorschau.website/resources/glossary/gots-goods "Textile goods (finished or intermediate) produced in compliance with GOTS (and properly labelled, as applicable) by a Certified Entity and certified by an Approved Certifier.
") in the supply chain between the producer of the fibre and the retail merchant of the final product regardless of whether the goods are physically received or not (e.g. an import, export or wholesale trading entity). Agents who do not become proprietors of the goods and [retailers](https://gots.vorschau.website/resources/glossary/retailer "A business entity or an online marketplace selling directly and exclusively to an end consumer (DTC operator).
") only selling to the end consumer are not considered [Traders](https://gots.vorschau.website/resources/glossary/trader "Entity trading with (=buying and selling) GOTS Goods in the supply chain between the producer of the fibre and the retail merchant of the final product regardless of whether the goods are physically received or not (e.g. an import, export or wholesale trading entity).
Agents who do not become proprietors of the goods and retailers only selling to the end consumer are not considered Traders.
An Approved Certification Body or Approved Certifier is a certification body that has been duly accredited by an Accreditation Body. By signing a con tract with Global Standard gGmbH, they are permitted to implement the Global Organic Textile Standard within a designated geographical area and for specific scopes of the Standard. An updated list of Approved Certifiers and their scopes is available on the GOTS Website.
") for GOTS-certified products, verifying their compliance with the [Standard](https://gots.vorschau.website/resources/glossary/standard "standard glossary text
"). It provides [traceability](https://gots.vorschau.website/resources/glossary/traceability "The ability to trace the origin of an object back to its source.
In a GOTS context, the ability to trace a GOTS Good as it moves through its supply chain.
Calculation process by which it is ascertained that output volumes of a product’s certified materials are compatible with their corresponding input volumes. Input volume and output volume of the certified material used for a product are compatible if their ratio falls within a given percentage range, which reflects estimated production losses specific to the production process of the particular product, and if the input volume can be demonstrated to have been available on stock.
") process. | | [ Transition Period](https://gots.vorschau.website/resources/glossary/transition-period) | The time period between the publication of a new version of the [Standard](https://gots.vorschau.website/resources/glossary/standard "standard glossary text
") and its effective date. |