New high: 10,388 GOTS certified facilities in 2020, an increase of 34% with more than 3 million workers in 72 countries
In 2020, the number of GOTS certified facilities grew by 34% globally, to a new high of 10,388 from 7,765 in 2019. 16 GOTS Approved Certification Bodies report that over 3 million people in over 72 countries were working in GOTS certified facilities.
Significant increases are seen in all regions. Top 10 countries for certified facilities are India (2,994), Bangladesh (1,584), Turkey (1,107), China (961), Germany (684), Italy (585), Portugal (449), Pakistan (391), USA (167) and Sri Lanka (126).
GOTS approved chemical inputs now number 25,913, an increase of 13% in 2020. This confirms that these inputs are increasingly used as a risk management tool by wet processors to satisfy legal and commercial residue requirements.
“The exceptional increase in this unprecedented year shows that decision makers value GOTS as an important tool to drive sustainable transformation in a comprehensive way – from field to fashion. Using organic fibres and processing them under strict GOTS criteria definitely provides a credible and strong base for market players to be successful in the future” says GOTS Managing Director Claudia Kersten.
GOTS version 6.0, to be implemented from 1 March 2021, includes stricter social and environmental criteria. Certified Entities will now have to calculate the gap between wages paid to ‘Living Wages’ and will be encouraged to work towards closing this gap. Specific references to OECD Due Diligence Guidance and Good Practice Guidance for Social Criteria and Risk Assessment as well as Ethical Business Practises have been explicitly included.
Turkey managed to protect its strong incline in GOTS certification, similar to its ranking within the textile industry. Compared to last year, there was a 29% increase in the number of certified facilities, to 1,107 (858 in 2019). Once again, GOTS has been well adopted by Turkish supply chain partners, mainly due to its impressive impact on increasing competitiveness in the global export market.
Requests on both – certification to GOTS and to become an approved Certifier – from the EU were also increasing. Another significant development was the growing diversity of the GOTS product range in Turkey. Producers of different product groups and levels of operation in the supply chain voiced their interest in GOTS.
About GOTS: 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 certification helps to ensure compliance with each of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.
GOTS was developed by leading international standard setters – Organic Trade Association (U.S.), 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. GOTS is a non-profit organisation which is self-financed. For more information please see www.global-standard.org and follow @globalorganictextilestandard on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
Fashionziner Information Team 2021
References: GOTS Türkiye
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