GOTS Press Release - USA +++ Fifty Companies Certified to GOTS in the U.S.

Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS):

Fifty Companies Certified to GOTS in the U.S. 

GOTS – The Global Organic Textile Standard, is pleased to announce that there are now fifty companies in the United States certified to GOTS. Ramblers Way Farm, Inc. of Kennebunk, Maine, manufacturer of garments made from GOTS certified organic wool, has become the fiftieth company to be added to the GOTS public database for the United States. Canada now has seven companies certified to the program. Consumers and retailers are invited to learn more about these companies on the GOTS public database at www.global-standard.org. 

Use of the GOTS logo or reference to GOTS certification may only be made if the conditions of the GOTS Licensing and Labelling Guide are met. Additionally, GOTS has published free adsfor newspapers, magazines and bloggers who want to support GOTS. 

GOTS is the stringent voluntary global standard for the entire post-harvest processing (including spinning, knitting, weaving, dyeing and manufacturing) of apparel and home textiles made with organic fiber (such as organic cotton and organic wool), and the standard includes both environmental and social criteria. Key provisions include a ban on the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), highly hazardous chemicals (such as azo dyes and formaldehyde), and child labor, while requiring strong social compliance management systems and strict wastewater treatment practices. In 2015, more than 3,800 facilities were certified to GOTS in 68 countries. The number of workers reported in 3,419 GOTS certified facilities exceeded 1,050,000.

GOTS is recognized worldwide as the leading processing standard for textiles made with organic fibers, and GOTS certification enables consumers to purchase items that are certified organic from field to finished product. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) formally accepted GOTS for sale of textiles labeled as organic in the USA via its policy memorandum dated May 2011

GOTS was developed by leading international standard setters - Organic Trade Association (U.S.), Japan Organic Cotton Association, International Association Natural Textile Industry (Germany), and Soil Association (UK), which formed an International Working Group to define globally recognized requirements that ensure the organic status of textiles. GOTS' operating unit, the Global-Standard gemeinnützige GmbH, is a non-profit organization. For more information about GOTS see www.global-standard.org. 

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GOTS
Global Organic Textile Standard