Since April 2023, Oeko-Tex has offered its own ‘Oeko-Tex Organic Cotton’ certification. It is a comprehensive and objective verification system from cultivation to end product for organic cotton products with a fully verified production chain. The focus is on product and consumer: internal safety as well as traceability.
Fashion and textile products eligible to carry the new label are made from organic cotton grown without GMOs (genetically modified organisms) and pesticides. They have also been tested for harmful substances in the Oeko-Tex catalog of criteria. For the first time, Oeko-Tex’s GMO quantification method can distinguish between contamination and the deliberate admixture of conventional cotton to prove organic origin.
To ensure clear communication, Oeko-Tex is launching a main label and a sub-label: “Organic Cotton” certifies articles and materials made from 100 percent organic cotton, while “Organic Cotton Blended” stands for articles made from at least 70 percent organic cotton.
With appropriate proofs of origin, all items containing organic cotton can still be tested for harmful substances and certified with Standard 100 by Oeko-Tex. Mixtures of organic cotton and conventional cotton are prohibited in all three certificates.
From the ginning stage onwards, every change of ownership of the goods requires an Oeko-Tex Organic Cotton transaction certificate. All steps are repeated annually. To prevent fraud, Oeko-Tex maintains a secure database of all transactions, the organization said in a press release.