1. GOTS in a nutshell

• GOTS is the stringent voluntary global standard for the entire post-harvest processing of apparel and home textiles made with certified organic fibre and includes both environmental and social criteria. Key provisions include a ban on the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), highly hazardous chemicals while requiring strong social compliance management systems.
• GOTS operates as an independent non-profit organisation and sustains itself through annual fees of €180 per certified facility.
• The GOTS system includes rules, procedures, and measures to maintain and uphold integrity, which are revised regularly.

2. Rules and Framework for Integrity

• As a standard-setter, GOTS defines globally recognised requirements that ensure the organic status of textiles, from field to finished product. In addition the standard, the interpretation manual and the Conditions for the Use of GOTS Signs are integral parts of the GOTS system.
• Independent, third-party inspection audit and certification of companies. It is done through accredited Certification Bodies (CBs). These are experts in their field, and GOTS relies on their proven competence, knowledge and experience. All certification decisions are within the responsibility and purview of the CBs. GOTS does not interfere with the decisions of the independent CBs.
• Independent accreditation of CBs. GOTS has developed its own accreditation system for the approval of CBs, as well as for continuous monitoring of the approved CBs. As a prerequisite, CBs applying for approval as a GOTS certifier must already hold a valid accreditation to perform certification in accordance with ISO/IEC Guides 17011 and 17065.
• The GOTS Quality Assurance Unit (QA) oversees and implements rigorous quality control procedures.

3. Procedures for Integrity

• All participants in the GOTS system, from the smallest certified company to the largest CB, must consistently adhere to GOTS' mandatory requirements, which prevent fraud throughout the value chain.
• GOTS has a robust complaint system where any individual or organisation is able to register a complaint about perceived violations of GOTS requirements. This ensures a formalised, timely and effective means of handling and resolving any complaints raised.
• GOTS reviews all complaints rigorously and works closely with relevant partners (e.g. CBs, ABs) to conduct comprehensive, thorough investigations.
• If evidence of wrongdoing come to light, GOTS takes swift and decisive action against all implicated parties to ensure that all issues are resolved and that the responsible party is held accountable. The GOTS system goes beyond industry standards, ensuring that only authentic organic products bear the coveted GOTS label.

4. Measures for Integrity

1. The following concrete measures ensure organic fiber authenticity within the GOTS value chain, with some specifically applicable to cotton:
   • Fibres entering the GOTS value chain must be certified organic according to a production standard recognised by the IFOAM Family of Standards.
   • Farmers/ICS groups must register in the GOTS Farm-Gin registry before their fibre are permitted to enter the GOTS system. Currently implemented in India, this requirement will soon be in effect globally.
   • All incoming raw material has to be reported to GOTS along with traceability to the respective farm group, including region, state and province of origin. Wherever the production standard provides for it, the TCs are required to be additionally submitted.
   • Raw cotton may not travel more than 500 km from the farm to the certified gin. This shorter trade chain protects vulnerable points and optimises the process for buyers.
   • GOTS approved CBs must verify the Farmers/ICS groups in the farm-gin registry before issuing lint TCs.
   • CBs must verify the Farm Scope and Transaction Certificates (SCs and TCs) of all materials entering the GOTS value chain.
   • CBs must validate relevant traceability and transport documentation.
   • CBs conduct mandatory testing of all seed cotton for genetically modified organisms using ISO IWA 32 protocol, performed by qualified testing laboratories (e.g., ISO 17025), and further tests (such as pesticide residue testing as per section 5.2.7 of standard version 7.0), either randomly or in case of suspicion of contamination or non-compliance, based on the risk assessment by the CBs.
   • Before issuing any TCs, CBs under GOTS must conduct a rigorous assessment including a mandatory plausibility check (volume reconciliation). First processing stage TCs are only issued by CBs after additional validity checks, such as first processing site capacities, stock positions, full traceability evidence back to the farm as well as verified financial transactions between concerned parties.
   • To strengthen integrity and traceability, GOTS also requires that the Farm TC number appears on the first GOTS TC at the ginning stage. The TC must state the origin for raw material, including region, state, and province. This effectively traces material back to the field and adds another layer of accountability to GOTS-certified fibre.
   • CBs perform unannounced audits of gins where there is a high perception of risk.
     
     
2. The GOTS Quality Assurance Unit (QA) additionally performs the following tasks to maintain integrity and transparency:
   • QA performs a comprehensive review of ginner applications in the GOTS database.
   • QA ensures that certified gins are located within a 500-kilometer radius of the farm groups or farms supplying the raw fibres.
   • QA organises, annually, residual chemical testing of certified products that have been randomly picked up from retail stores across the globe to confirm compliance with GOTS criteria.
   • QA periodically sample lint cotton from ginners to assess GMO presence.
   • QA regularly shares a list of potential high-risk entities with all CBs.
   • QA performs random checks of SCs, TCs, and Letters of Approval issued by CBs.
     
     
3. Bans
   If an investigation uncovers evidence of fraud, the company will be excluded from the GOTS system, in strict accordance with the established complaint procedure. Additionally, the findings will be publicly disclosed on the official GOTS website.
   
   
4. Withdrawal of TCs
   Transaction Certificates (TCs) linked to fraud will be revoked by the relevant CBs, and any finished products will be prohibited from carrying the GOTS label.
   
   
5. Upholding Integrity Through Collaboration with Stakeholders
   • GOTS cultivates a robust and continuous dialogue with both fellow certification scheme owners and key stakeholders within the organic industry, nurturing collaboration across a spectrum of important issues.
   • GOTS has an ongoing collaboration with Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA) and Textile Exchange to provide the textile sector with an overview of global laboratories that can reliably conduct GMO testing as per the ISO IWA 32:2019 protocol – a common language among laboratories worldwide to screen for the potential presence of genetically modified (GM) cotton along the organic cotton value chain.  
   • GOTS co-hosted the Organic Cotton & Textiles Conference in Indore, India in February 2023 with partners Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA) and IFOAM – Organics International. The conference focused on collaborative solutions to industry-wide issues of transparency, integrity and capacity. 
   • GOTS is collaborating with the European Space Agency (ESA) on a demonstrator project that employs AI and satellite imagery to detect organic versus non-organic cotton fields, enhancing the monitoring of organic cotton cultivation systems.
   • GOTS is in the process of developing a central database that will trace the origins of organic materials across the entire GOTS chain of custody. This database will cover the journey from the raw material's source, through the initial processing stages, and extend all the way to the final product. To ensure the standard's independence from economic influences, a portion of the development costs is being covered by public funding.

Vision

Mission

Aim

Sustainable Development

The starting point for the development of the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) was the Intercot Conference 2002 in Düsseldorf (Germany). In a workshop, attended by representatives of organic cotton producers, the textile industry, consumers, standard organisations and certifiers, the need for a harmonised organic textile standard that would be globally recognised, was discussed. At that time, numerous different standards and draft standards existed in the niche market of organic textiles. These different standards represented an obstacle to the international exchange and recognition of organic textiles. Simultaneously, they caused confusion among (the few) producers, retailers and consumers who were interested in this field.

As a result of the workshop, the International Working Group on Global Organic Textile Standard was founded with the aim to continuously work on harmonising the various different standards and approaches, as well as to develop a set of global standards.

Since 2002, a number of organisations and experts have periodically participated in this work. A compromise was needed to find consensus over points that some organisations considered to be 'non-negotiable'. Not all standard organisations that participated in the process ended up signing the 'Agreement' formally establishing the Working Group.

The International Working Group constituted of the four founding organisations:

• International Association Natural Textile Industry (IVN) 
• Japan Organic Cotton Association (JOCA)
• Organic Trade Association (OTA)
• Soil Association (SA) 

Finally, after four years of negotiation, the "Global Organic Textile Standard" was established in 2006 and the first certification completed.

Taking into account the demand from the retail market to show their compliance with GOTS by having a logo on certified organic garments, the International Working Group finally developed such a label. It decided on its usage and on the main features of the licensing system at its meeting at Biofach in February 2008. During the IFOAM textile conference in Modena, Italy, in June 2008, the label was presented to the public for the first time.

Since its introduction in 2006, GOTS has gained universal recognition, has made numerous similar standards that previously existed redundant and has become the leading standard for the processing of textile goods using organic fibres, including environmentally oriented, technical and social criteria.

As the International Working group declared it a condition for certification bodies to drop any own organic textile standard, in order to be approved for GOTS certification, not only the respective ‘Founding Organisations‘ standards, but also numerous standards set and used by certification bodies finally disappeared from the market.

Thus, GOTS replaced the:

• North American Fiber Standard - Organic Trade Association (USA)
• Guidelines 'Naturtextil IVN certified' - International Association Natural Textile Industry (Germany)
• Standards for Processing and Manufacture of Organic Textiles - Soil Association (England)
• Certification and Standards for Organic Cotton Products - Japan Organic Cotton Association (Japan)
• EKO Sustainable Textile Standard
• Control Union Certifications (formerly Skal International, Netherlands)
• Standards for Organic Textiles - Ecocert (France)
• Organic Textile Standard - ICEA (Italy)
• Standards for Organic Textiles - ETKO (Turkey)
• Organic Fiber Standards - Oregon Tilth (USA)
• Standards for Processing of Organic Textile Products - OIA (Argentina)

After the enormous growth of certified facilities between 2006 and 2009 (2006: 27 certified facilities, 2008: 1,977, 2009: 2,811), a consolidation phase was entered in 2010, with a small decline (to 2.754) in certified facilities by the end of 2010. Besides the economic difficulties facing the textile industry in general, the introduction of the Certified Suppliers Database in early 2010 (that had more than 120,000 search requests in its first year) meant that buyers (brands, retailers and their wholesalers) first looked for suppliers who were already certified before considering that new suppliers and supply chains acquire certification. This meant that the existing certified entities were receiving more orders for certified textiles than before, although data was not collected to quantify this effect. In 2012, the number of certified facilities started growing again partly because licensees worldwide are getting more and more diverse orders for GOTS goods, and thus, they apply certification for more production lines, processors and manufacturers.

Since 2014, there has been a remarkable growth in certified GOTS facilities. In 2018, the number increased by 14.6% from the preceding year. This can be attributed to consumers and retailers recognising and accepting GOTS as a premier sustainable standard that meets ecological, as well as social criteria. It is the preferred standard for certified organic textiles. We are aware of the responsibilities that come with this and remain committed to pursue the path laid down by the founding organisations of GOTS.

The entities participating in the certification system include processing, manufacturing and trading companies along the entire textile supply chain and range from small-scale units up to the largest vertical integrated enterprises, mainly producing for the North American, European and Japanese markets. The growing interest of leading retailers and brands in garments which are produced and certified according to the GOTS has created increasing demand for GOTS products.

At present, sixteen certifiers are approved under the GOTS scheme, assuring applicants worldwide accessibility to the certification system. Find contact details of all approved certifiers here.

The global nature of the textile industry required a common approach to the certification and labelling of organic textiles, in order to move them from a niche to a mainstream market and to generate awareness, as well as recognition in the retail market and among end consumers. The four founding organisations behind GOTS took on the responsibility of developing a global standard and adapting it in preference to their own 'home-grown' schemes. The GOTS label has both benefited from and contributed to a remarkable growth in the use of organic fibres (especially cotton). The Global Organic Textile Standard now sets the benchmark for an international common understanding of environmentally friendly production systems and social accountability in the organic textile sector. In the future, Global Standard gGmbH will continue to do its best to maintain GOTS as a transparent and reliable system, on which the industry, retailers and consumers can rely.

Chemical inputs used for wet-processing of GOTS Goods and Accessories used for functional and/or fashionable reasons are collectively called GOTS Additives. Both categories have different technical requirements in line with their production and usage.

With the implementation of GOTS Version 7.0, chemical formulators are required to implement product stewardship practices and undergo an on-site audit for environmental management systems, as well as occupational health and safety.

Find more information on how to get additives approved 
Search for Suppliers of Approved Chemical Inputs in the GOTS Positive List