ECOCERT International

FROM THE FIBRE TO THE FINISHED PRODUCT

A SINGLE STANDARD: GOTS

The organic textiles market is continuing to grow, led by the increasing awareness of consumers who are now informed of the risks conventional textiles pose to health and the environment.

Although the conventional textile industry remains one of the most polluting in the world, organic textile production is not subjected to any government regulations. Certain certification bodies have therefore decided to develop their own standards.

Faced with this mass of specifications, Ecocert chose to get involved in an international approach to harmonise standards and adopt the GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) for the inspection of organic textiles.

The standard is available at http://www.global-standard.org. The aim of this standard is to define requirements to ensure organic status of textiles, from harvesting of the raw material, through environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing up to labelling in order to provide a credible assurance to the end consumer.

The standard integrates all of the textile processing stages, from the fibre to the finished product: the raw fibre must be organic farming certified and all manufacturing processes involved must be inspected.

Organic textile = organic fibre + complete inspection of the manufacturing process

There can be no “organic textile” without a complete inspection of all the manufacturing stages, particularly the dyeing process which is the most harmful to health and the environment. The use of chemicals is governed by very strict criteria.

Heavy metals, formaldehydes, GMO enzymes and carcinogenic amines are banned.

This production method favours the use of natural dyes and production aids of natural origin, and imposes rigorous requirements with regard to environmental discharges and harmful chemical residues contained in the finished product.