GLOBAL ORGANIC TEXTILE STANDARD
ECOLOGY & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
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GOTS NEWS · JULY 2021
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Dear readers,
GOTS was born in 2006 with the clear vision that organic textiles will become a significant part of everyday life, enhancing people's lives and the environment. Fifteen years later this vision is more relevant than ever before.
“Business as usual” came to an abrupt halt in 2020 as the Covid 19 virus spread from country to country, forcing governments to take unprecedented action. People around the globe began realising how vulnerable our way of life really is and many now also make the connection to the ongoing climate emergency, in which we will not have vaccines to patch things up rather quickly. Current business practices are being questioned like never before and we experience an increasing number of people searching for truly sustainable options.
For the sustainability challenges of the textile industry, GOTS is such an option. Being the worldwide recognised textile processing standard to cover all processing stages - from field to fashion - we monitored skyrocketing visits to our website during the first six months of 2021
(+69%). Consumers are interested in GOTS as a reliable instrument to distinguish between greenwashing and a true effort towards sustainability. To the industry GOTS continues to be a valuable risk management tool, impressively demonstrated by the +34% growth in certified facilities in 2020 and the current number of 12.286 certified facilities.
Our growth should give us all - including buyers and sellers of GOTS products - a sense of pride for our contribution to sustainable development.It also enabled us to extend the GOTS non-profit organisation unit significantly. We are happy to welcome five new colleagues strengthening standard development and implementation, quality assurance and impact, IT capabilities, marketing and our regional presence in Africa.
Best wishes to all those who are battling the pandemic, as well as to those who continue to persevere for a better tomorrow.
Sincerely yours
 
 
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TOPICS
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→ Annual Report 2020
→ Strengthening Standard Development and Quality Assurance
→ First GOTS Representative in Africa appointed
→ Expanding GOTS IT and Marketing capabilities
→ Challenging new roles within the GOTS organisation
→ Product Stewardship - Webinar for CB's
→ Organic Cotton Market Report 2021
→ Update on organic cotton production in Turkey
→ Supply Chain Laws in Germany & Norway passed
→ Meet GOTS
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GOTS Annual Report shows significant growth in 2020
Despite the unparalleled challenges of 2020 our organisation's important work continued and delivered noticeable advancements towards the GOTS vision that organic textiles will become a significant part of everyday life, enhancing people's lives and the environment.
Our 2020 Annual Report highlights the 4,22 million workers benefitting from the high social standards required of GOTS certified facilities, which represents a remarkable increase of +32% over last year. Despite the severe restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of certified GOTS facilities grew by +34% to over ten thousand serving both environment and workers.
2020 also saw the release of GOTS Standard Version 6.0 in March 2020 after a year-long revision process that saw the highest number of comments and inputs. GOTS 6.0 is in effect since March 1st 2021.
→ Read/Download the full report here
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Strengthening Standard Development and Quality Assurance
We are excited to announce two new members to the GOTS Standard Development and Quality Assurance Team and welcome Prachi Gupta in her new role.
Bükra Kalaycı is a textile engineer and holds a master’s degree in environmental sustainability. Her PhD research focuses on circular systems in the textile supply chain. Bükra has been appointed to the newly created position Responsible, Standard Development and Implementation (Ecology) at GOTS. She will continue to develop the ecology pillar as well as ensure an efficient implementation of the GOTS standard. Bükra is based in Turkey.
 Ruslan Alyamkin has been appointed as Responsible, Standard Development and Implementation (Social Responsibility). Ruslan has a PhD in International Public Law and has a background in human rights. He has worked with international, governmental and non-governmental organisations, including the OSCE and the UN OHCHR. Ruslan will help GOTS in ensuring the Standard continues its development in the social responsibility pillar. He is based in Germany and may engage with CBs for matters related to GOTS social requirements.
 Prachi Gupta is now designated Responsible, Quality Assurance and Impact. Prachi takes on the task to engage with GOTS ACBs regarding Quality Assurance procedures, such as CB Webinars and Training, GMO data collection, CB complaints and Impact related procedures, such as quality surveys with CBs and Certified Entities.She will also work with Accreditation Bodies as required. Prachi holds a master’s degree in Textile Technology and is based in India.
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First GOTS Representative in Africa appointed
 Muktar Dodo is the newly appointed GOTS Representative in Africa. He is responsible for enhancing GOTS on the continent that is quickly becoming a sourcing destination for major markets. Muktar comes to the role with substantial experience in implementing standards and quality assurance services in the cotton and textile sector in Africa. He also gained experience in organic textile certification having worked with a certification body in China. Muktar is based in Nigeria.
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Expanding GOTS IT and Marketing capabilities
In order to meet the growing demand on digitalisation, data processing and marketing, two specialists in their respective fields were hired.
Swati More is being appointed as an IT Specialist and formally join ed GOTS on 19 July 2021. Swati is from the Software - IT industry and completed her graduation in Electronics Engineering. She has expertise in software applications development & database management. Next to focusing on the data digitisation process & data management, she will also be looking over the support of existing software applications and new software developments, enhancing GOTS's digitalisation process. Swati is based in India.
 Holger Stripf has been appointed GOTS Head of Marketing. He brings with him over thirteen years of international marketing experience. Holger has worked for corporations in Australia, USA and Germany and spent the last nine years in senior marketing positions at Heine, a member of the Otto Group. Next to his strategic marketing focus, Holger has also taken over the responsibilities of Juliane Ziegler, who has been appointed the new GOTS Representative in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Holger is based in Germany.
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Challenging new roles within the GOTS organisation
With the wave of new faces at GOTS, existing staff members were able to move to exciting new positions.
Franziska Dormann has moved on to her new position as Representative to Global Brands. Franziska faces the task to establish, develop and maintain relationships with Global Brands which are current or prospective GOTS users. She will give online presentations as well as webinars to those companies and if required also pay in-person visits. Franziska holds a Master´s degree in Global Studies and is currently based in Germany.
After two years as GOTS Communication Executive, Juliane Ziegler now acts as GOTS Representative in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In her new position, Juliane provides initial consultation on GOTS certification in the region, contributes to industry and educational events, and provides input for media. Juliane holds a Bachelor’s degree in Textile Management and completed a Master in Communication Science. She is based in Germany.
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Product Stewardship - Free Webinar for Certification Bodies
With the implementation of GOTS Version 6.0, 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. On June 30 2021, GOTS held a training webinar on the topic with Dr. Dileep M. Wakankar, one of the leading specialists on Product Stewardship. A hundred participants from over 16 countries joined the live webinar. 97% of participants gave it a good to excellent rating. In case you missed the live session we gladly share the recorded webinar.
→ Click here to view the webinar.
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Organic Cotton Market Report 2021 shows record breaking harvest
The 2021 Organic Cotton Market report by Textile Exchange has been released. Despite the pandemic, the 2019/2020 harvest was a record breaker yet again. 229.280 farmers (+3%) produced 249.153 tonnes of organic cotton fiber (+4%) on 588.425 hectars of certified organic land (+41%) in 21 countries (+10,5%). However, as wonderful as this development is, organic cotton still only accounts for roughly 1% of global cotton production.
→ Read/Download the full 87 page report here.
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Turkey aims to increase organic cotton production
Despite the record breaking 2019/2020 harvest, the demand for organic cotton far outreaches supply, resulting in availability issues. Authorities in Turkey have recently reacted and stated the interest to ramp up the country’s organic cotton production. A working group of industry stakeholders will likely be established to succeed in the goal of reaching a 20% organic share in total Turkish textile industry exports within the next four years. According to the latest Textile Exchange's Report Turkey is currently responsible for an annual harvest of 24.000 tonnes organic cotton. Under these new circumstances, this number will most likely increase significantly in the coming years.
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Norway and Germany are introducing requirements for large companies to conduct Human Rights Due Diligence of their supply chains
On 11 June 2021, the German Parliament agreed on the Act on Corporate Due Diligence in Supply Chains. The Act will enter into force in 2023 and initially cover companies with 3,000 or more employees. From 2024 onwards, companies with 1,000 or more employees will fall under the scope of the law. The aim is to improve the protection of human rights in global supply chains, to ensure compliance with human rights standards, such as the prohibition of child labour and forced labour. The law requires companies to regularly identify and address human rights and environmental risks in their direct supply chains - an essential step towards more corporate accountability. The law specifically refers to a “recognition mechanism” for existing certification systems, which will give companies guidance as to where and when existing certificates like GOTS can be used as proof of their due diligence.
On 14 June 2021, the Norwegian Parliament adopted the Transparency Act, which requires Norwegian companies to conduct human rights due diligence of their supply chains and throughout all business relationships within their value chains. The law covers all larger companies domiciled in Norway and foreign companies selling products and services to Norwegian consumers. Further, companies must conduct the due diligence assessments are in line with the internationally recognised principles outlined in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The law will come into force on 1 January 2022.
GOTS welcomes the adoption of German and Norwegian laws and sees them as significant steps forward in making businesses more responsible while ensuring that business operations do not cause adverse impacts on human rights. GOTS strives towards better protection of labour and human rights for all workers.
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Meet GOTS
31 July – 2 August 2021, Wallau, Germany: Innatex
GOTS will be at Innatex, the international trade fair for sustainable textiles. The event will take place live and not only features fashion, but also other textiles such as accessories, home textiles, fabrics and more. If you have any questions about certification to GOTS, visit our booth.
For more information please contact Juliane Ziegler:
21 Sept.- 23rd Sept., Paris France: Smart Creation/Premiere Vision
Smart Creation is the area dedicated to sustainability and innovation inside the International B2B Fashion Fair Premiere Vision. Its aim is to unlock the potential of sustainable fashion and to provide ideas, as well as solutions to any company that is willing to become more eco-responsible. Franziska Dormann (Representative to Global Brands) will be at the show.
For appointments please contact Franziska Dormann:
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