India has topped the ranking of Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), which has released its annual report for 2014 noting significant growth in the standard’s certified facilities. There are now 3,663 GOTS certified facilities across the globe – up 18 per cent since last yea. The annual report, GOTS released version 4.0, notes that the top 15 countries in terms of total number of GOTS-certified facilities are (by rank): India, Turkey, Germany, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Italy, South Korea, Portugal, Japan, France, USA, UK, Austria, and Hong Kong.
Certification rise in a year was up 338 per cent in India, in Bangladesh it was 89 per cent, Germany 32 per cent, Turkey 21 per cent and China 18 per cent. The update saw a ban on virgin polyester and angora for certified products, as well as more stringent recycled synthetic fibre allowances.
According to Claudia Kersten, GOTS Marketing Director, the growth in certifications demonstrates that GOTS has become the standard of choice for brands and retailers to efficiently manage their organic fibre supply chains. She further added that certification to GOTS also demonstrates a company’s commitment to sustainability through third party and independent GOTS certification and reference to GOTS on product labels instead of self-claims.
GOTS magaging director Herbert Ladwig, claimed the report shows the standard is strengthening year on year.