DCS organic and ecological textiles

The European Union (EU regulation 2092/91),2
the United States (NOP)3
and Japan
(JAS), among others, protect the use of the word ‘organic’ on food and processed
food for sale. These regulations apply to products deriving from agriculture and
animal husbandry, but not to products like fish or to non-food items such as cotton
products. There are thus no particular legal requirements for the import and sale of
organic cotton and organic cotton products in the main consumer markets in the
North, other than those for conventional cotton.
However, in order to distinguish cotton originating from certified organic farms from
conventional cotton, market players will consider cotton ‘organic’ only if the seed
cotton was produced on certified organic farms and processed in certified organic
ginning mills. Certification by third parties is generally requested in order to back up
producers’ organic claims, and to strengthen trust between the supplier and the buyer.
Organic seed cotton and cotton fibre4
should be treated separately from conventional
seed cotton and cotton fibre at any time; whether on the field, at storage in the village,
on transport to the ginnery, during ginning, during storage at the ginnery or port, or
during transport to the textile processing unit. The separate treatment should be duly
documented and archived for the purpose of inspection and certification by a third
party. Buyers will usually request a ‘transaction certificate’ from a third party to
ensure that the cotton fibre traded was produced according to organic standards.
Standard-setting for the processing and trade of organic cotton fibre results from
private initiative. The lack of regulatory back-up by governmental policy can be
considered a weak element of the current organization of the organic cotton sector.
This was grounds, for example, for IFOAM to call upon the European Union (EU) to
include organic textiles in the 2006 revision of the EU organic regulatory framework

Requirements for processing
Private standards have also been developed for the environment-friendly processing
of organic cotton fibre into yarn, fabric and garments. Many different voluntary
standards for the ecological processing of organic cotton and textiles were developed,
among others by the following control and certification agencies: Control Union/Skal
(Netherlands), Organic Trade Association (OTA) (United States), Internationaler
Verband der Naturtextilwirtschaft (IVN) (Germany), Soil Association (United
Kingdom), Japan Organic Cotton Association (JOCA) (Japan) and Naturland

(Germany). Individual companies may also have their standards for the ecological
processing of their 100% organic cotton textiles and clothing. 5

Global harmonization of organic textile standards is underway. Global Organic
Textile Standards (GOTS) have been developed recently by the certifying bodies
IVN, JOCA, Soil Association and OTA. 6
Other certifiers are expected to join the
GOTS initiative, which was launched on 1 October 2006. The harmonized standard
aims to ensure the organic status of textiles, from harvesting of the raw materials,
through environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing up to labelling, in
order to provide credible assurance to the end-consumer. GOTS enables textile
manufacturers to qualify their organic fabrics and garments with one certificate
accepted in all major world markets, which is an important step towards
harmonization and transparency of textile labels (IMO, 2006).
The organic cotton business network Organic Exchange has established standards for
textile certification which do not require all cotton used to be organic. The Organic
Exchange Blended Standard (2005)7
relates to the tracking and tracing of certified
organic cotton fibre that is blended into conventional textiles, for example at a rate of
5% organic cotton with 95% other fibres (conventional cotton, synthetic fibres, wool,
etc.).
Finally, there are a number of public and private labelling schemes that consider the
sustainability of textile processing from the angle of consumer safety and the
allergenity of textiles and clothing. Examples are the EU Flower eco-label for textiles
and schemes such as Oeko-Tex 100 which ensure low levels of chemical residues in
end-products.8
These schemes, however, do not require the use of organic cotton

Fair trade’s strategic intent is ‘to deliberately work with marginalized producers and
workers in order to help them move from a position of vulnerability to security and
economic self-sufficiency, to empower producers and workers as stakeholders in their
own organizations, and to actively play a wider role in the global area to achieve
greater equity in international trade’ (Krier, 2005).
Textiles and clothing made of fair trade cotton have been for sale in seve ral European
countries since 2005. This ‘fair trade’ cotton is produced by farmers whose producer
organizations have been certified according to the standards of Fairtrade Labelling
Organizations International (FLO), one of the four umbrella organizations referred to
above. FLO is the leading ‘fair trade’ standard setting and certification body.
FLO works with labelling initiatives in 15 European countries as well as Australia and
New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Mexico and the United States. FLO regularly inspects
and certifies about 500 producer organizations in more than 50 countries in Africa,
Asia and Latin America. Producers from countries in Europe, the United States and
Turkey, among others, are not currently eligible to sell under fair trade.
Fair trade favours the transparent management of producer organizations and the
empowerment of producers. Fair trade cotton contributes to higher producer income

Smallholders participate in fair trade through membership-based producer
organizations (cooperatives, producer groups, associations, etc.). FLO controls and
verifies these organizations according to two sets of standards: generic standards and
product standards.9
The generic standards aim to ensure transparency in management
of the producer organizations. Progress requirements are used in addition to
encourage producers to continuously improve their livelihoods and organization
(FLO, 2005).
Product standards now exist for bananas, cane sugar, cocoa, coffee, dried fruit,
flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables, fruit juices, herbs and spices, honey, nuts and
oilseeds, quinoa, rice, seed cotton, sport balls, tea and wine grapes. The product
standards for seed cotton were established in 2004 and revised in 2006 (FLO, 2006a).
There are no standards yet for the processing and trade of fair trade cotton throughout
the cotton textile production chain. Generic standards for traders are under
development.
Fair trade is based on paying producers a guaranteed minimum price. The minimum
price should be high enough to cover the costs of production and the producer’s costs
of living, plus the costs of control and certification by the inspection body FLO-Cert
that certifies against the fair trade standards established by FLO. In addition to the
minimum producer price, a communal premium is paid to the producer organization
for investment in projects that have been collectively decided upon by its members.