GOTS - Global Organic Textile Standard

Which products can become GOTS-certified?

The certifiable end products include yarns, fabrics, fibres, wool, garments and home textiles. However, leather and fur products are not eligible for GOTS certification.

What does the GOTS certification cover?

In order to be allowed to advertise with the green-white GOTS label, all companies involved in the processing & manufacturing process as well as in the trade of textiles must be GOTS certified. This requires that all production and processing stages meet the standard criteria.

GOTS criteria

Minimum organic fibre content

Only textile products that consist of at least 70% organic fibres can be certified according to GOTS. The standard setter provides two options:

• Organic textiles with the GOTS quality seal must consist of 95 % organically grown raw materials or from cultivation that is converting to organic cultivation (so-called "organic in conversion"). National or international guidelines for organic farming recognised by the IFOAM standard family must be adhered to. For the remaining 5%, the use of certain synthetic fibres or conventionally produced GMO-free fibres is permitted.

• GOTS textiles without the "organic" label must contain at least 70 % certified organic fibres and a maximum of 30 % or less from conventional farming, while the proportion of synthetic fibres must not exceed 10 %. However, an exception is made for sportswear, leggings and socks: here the proportion of synthetic fibres must not exceed 25 %.

GOTS Bio-Label	GOTS Standard Label

Ecological Criteria

• regulations on the management and use of chemical additives.
• strict separation of organic and conventional fibres in every processing step
• proof of a company environmental protection programme
• further environmental protective and sustainability-promoting measures.

Social Criteria

The content of the GOTS social criteria is based on the norms, standards and principles of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations (UN). The Global Organic Textile Standard includes, for example, the following social criteria:

• free choice of employment / prohibition of forced labour
• prohibition of child labour
• safe and hygienic working conditions
• prohibition of inhumane treatment
• regulated working hours

Details and additional criteria can be found in the current GOTS version 6.0.

Your path to GOTS certification

After contract signing, we first carry out an initial inspection of your business. After obtaining the GOTS certificate, the standard setter requires an annual follow-up inspection by an GOTS approved certification body.

Control Union is accredited by the RVA as an independent certification body for the Global Organic Content Standard (GOTS) under registration number RvA-C412 Products. With our global network of offices in over 80 countries, we can manage your GOTS certification more efficiently and cost-effectively, while meeting the rigorous requirements of professional auditing and certification processes.

We are happy to answer any questions you may have: textilberlin@controlunion.com