Forty companies were certified to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) in 2019, taking the number of companies certified to GOTS in the US to 113. GOTS covers processing, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, trading and distribution of textiles made from at least 70 per cent certified organic fibres, ensuring stringent ecological and social criteria.
Consumers demand third-party validation from companies on ecological and social claims. GOTS certification ensures compliance with stringent ecological and social criteria, and with each of the seventeen United Nation Sustainable Development Goals, to achieve sustainable development.
Products may only be sold with a GOTS label if the entire supply-chain is certified and the necessary scope and transaction certificates have been obtained to prove certification. In order to guarantee consistent product assurance of GOTS certified textiles, an independent on-site inspection, according to the GOTS standard, is carried out annually by GOTS approved certifiers.
GOTS is the stringent voluntary global standard for the entire post-harvest processing (including spinning, knitting, weaving, dyeing and manufacturing) of apparel and home textiles made with certified organic fibre (such as organic cotton and organic wool), and includes both environmental and social criteria. Key provisions include a ban on the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), highly hazardous chemicals (such as azo dyes and formaldehyde), and child labour, while requiring strong social compliance management systems and strict waste water treatment practices. GOTS was developed by leading international standard setters – Organic Trade Association (US), Japan Organic Cotton Association, International Association Natural Textile Industry (Germany), and Soil Association (UK) to define globally-recognised requirements that ensure the organic status of textiles, from field to finished product.
The companies certified include Roshan Trading, King-Mesa Gin, Mesa Farmers Cooperative, West Gin, Avocado Green Brands, Brentwood Home, Chevaldi, Diamond Wipes International, Fibertex Nonwovens, A1 Home Collections, Cole and Cleo, Conscious Step, Everlane, Fair Seas Supply Company, and Green Cotton Group USA.
