GOTS ranked best in textile traceability test by Stiftung

Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) was ranked best in the test ‘Traceability of Clothing with Textile Seals’ by German consumer product testing organisation Stiftung Warentest. GOTS was found to offer complete transparency and traceability while complying with strict social and ecological criteria at all stages of production from field to finished textile.

For the test Stiftung Warentest selected three certified garments per audited seal. All scope and transaction certificates were examined. The scope certificates confirm GOTS-certified companies’ ability to manufacture according to the GOTS criteria, said GOTS in a press release. Transaction certificates serve as shipping documents which prove that the garments are certified. Independent auditors confirmed full traceability of GOTS certified textiles from cotton cultivation via spinning, knitting, finishing up to the finished textile and compliance with the stringent ecological and social criteria.

“We are extremely pleased to receive this great recognition from such a renowned institute”, said Franziska Dormann, GOTS representative in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Products may only be sold with a GOTS label if the entire supply-chain is certified and the necessary scope and transaction certificates have been obtained. In order to guarantee consistent product assurance of GOTS certified textiles, an independent on-site inspection, according to the GOTS standard, is carried out annually by GOTS approved certifiers.