Standards & schemes
GOTS International
In brief
The Global Organic Textile Standard is the leading processing standard for organic fibres, covering the full textile chain from ginning through spinning, weaving, dyeing and manufacture to the final labelled product. It has two label grades: "organic" (≥95% certified organic fibres) and "made with organic" (≥70%), and it combines fibre-content rules with environmental criteria — notably restrictions on toxic inputs such as azo dyes and requirements for wastewater treatment at wet-processing facilities — plus social criteria based on International Labour Organization norms. Certification is annual, by accredited certification bodies, with identity-preserved traceability through each processing stage, and certified entities appear in a public database. GOTS v7.0 is current; v8.0 was released in March 2026 with transition underway. Only textile products carrying a valid licence number from a GOTS-certified entity may use the label, and the public database allows the number to be traced to the certified company and scope. GOTS certification of the final product requires every processing step to be certified, which is why transaction certificates matter at each hand-off. Certification supports a claim only within the certified scope and label grade; it does not by itself prove outcomes or validate wording beyond that scope.
Conditional relationships
A relationship does not mean that the standard proves or validates every use of a claim.
Recognition & legal context
No reviewed law references are published.
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