GOTS - How to get chemical inputs approved

How to get chemical inputs approved

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A procedure for issuing GOTS-approved positive lists containing the trade names of chemical inputs has been developed in order to assure that (wet-)processors, who participate in the GOTS certification programme, use only GOTS-accepted chemical inputs such as dyestuffs, prints and auxiliary agents and have a reliable and sufficient supply to source their inputs.

Due to the demand by (mass market) retailers and well-known brands as well as their wet processing enterprises for dyestuffs and auxiliaries that meet the related criteria of GOTS, the chemical supply industry cooperates closely with certifiers accredited and approved for this procedure. To date, certifiers have already assessed thousends of dyestuffs and auxiliaries for more than 300 chemical suppliers in accordance with GOTS Version 3.0 and more than 3000 dyestuffs and 4000 auxiliaries have been approved. A certification body that has received accreditation for the scope to approve textile auxiliary agents on positive lists is required to make current issues of the lists available to the other GOTS-approved certification bodies for use in evaluating all operators participating in the GOTS certification scheme. However, inputs which are developed and used on confidential basis by a specific client will not be disclosed. The lists of approved inputs are already a widely recognised tool used in the industry (even in conventional supply chains) for selecting inputs evaluated according to environmental criteria.

Suppliers of chemical inputs must have available a material safety data sheet (MSDS) prepared according to one of the following norms/directives and containing appropriate information with regard to GOTS criteria to be used as an approved basic tool for evaluation:

ANSI Z400.1-2004
ISO 11014-1
1907/2006EEC (Reach)
2001/58/EEC
GHS (Global Harmonised System)

Not all GOTS criteria can be assessed based only on the MSDS because some parameters reflected in GOTS are not required to be declared there. It is sometimes also the case that an MSDS contains insufficient, contradictory or even false information. Certifiers therefore need to consider additional sources of information such as lab tests to determine or reconfirm the components of a chemical input and its environmental and toxicological parameters.

Manufacturers and suppliers of chemical inputs who wish to have their products approved in accordance with GOTS criteria should contact an applicable GOTS-approved certification body. Relevant requirements for chemical inputs were also changed or amended with the release of GOTS Version 3.0 in March 2011. The dyes and auxiliaries already approved for Version 2.0 therefore needed to be reassessed and relisted for GOTS Version 3.0. In this context, the International Working Group decided that the chemical suppliers should contribute to the GOTS programme and therefore introduced a registration fee payable by the chemical suppliers for chemical inputs that get listed on approved input lists for compliance with GOTS Version 3.0. The certifiers accredited for chemical input assessment collect the registration fee of €15 per approved and listed trade name of a chemical input. This fee is not an annual one but payable for registration in each general new version of the standard (general revisions are scheduled every three years).

Because the assessment of chemical inputs requires very specific expertise, only those GOTS certification bodies qualified for this task are approved for the GOTS accreditation scope “Approval of textile auxiliary agents (chemical inputs) on positive lists”. Contact details of the GOTS-approved certifiers accredited for this scope are listed below (in alphabetical order):

	CCPB Certificazione e Controllo Prodotti Biologici ltd b.v. Via J. Barozzi, 8 I-40126 BOLOGNA Italy phone: +39 051 6089811 fax: +39 051 254842	eMail: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können. website: www.ccpb.it
	CU Inspections India Pvt. Ltd. Plot No. C-113, TTC Industrial Area, Pawane MIDC, 400 709 Navi Mumbai – Maharashtra Contact: Mr. Rajesh Selva Tel+ phone: +91 22 61294300/61294200 fax: +91 22 61294217	eMail: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können. eMail: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können. website: www.controlunion.in
	ECOCERT Greenlife BP 47 32600 - L'Isle Jourdain France phone: +33 5 62 07 74 90 fax: +33 5 62 07 74 96	eMail: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können. website: www.ecocert.com
	ETKO Ekolojik Tarim Kontrol Organizasyonu Ltd Sti 160 Sk 13/7 35040 Bornova - Izmir - TURKEY phone: +90 232 3397606 fax: +90 232 3397607	eMail: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können. website: www.etko.org
	ICEA Istituto per la Certificazione Etica e Ambientale Strada Maggiore 29 I-40125 Bologna Italy phone: +39 051 27 29 86 fax: +39 051 23 20 11	eMail: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können. website: www.icea.info
	IMO Institute for Marketecology Weststrasse 51 CH-8570 Weinfelden Switzerland phone: +41 71 6260627 fax: +41 71 6260623	eMail: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können. website: http://gots-positivelist.imo.ch
	OneCert Inc. 2219 C Street Lincoln, NE 68502, USA phone: +01 402 420 6080 fax: +01 888 475 6044	eMail: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können. website: www.onecert.com
	Soil Association Certification Ltd. South Plaza Marlborough Street Bristol BS1 3NX Great Britain phone: +44 117 9874576 fax: +44 117 3145046	eMail: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! Sie müssen JavaScript aktivieren, damit Sie sie sehen können. website: www.soilassociation.org/certification