Friday, January 25, 2008

Certification of Organic Cotton

When I looked for organic cotton clothes for example, many times I did not find any certification labels accompanying the statement so I am not so sure that the claim is certainly true. Certification of organic cotton production adds credibility to the final product, assures the buyer of the organic status of the product and also encourages payment of premium prices to farmers who engage in organic practices. When a producer is "certified organic," an independent organization has verified that the company meets or exceeds defined organic standards. Certified organic farms are inspected regularly and must maintain comprehensive records of their production methods. After a little search I found that there are many programs (more or less credible) which regulate the organic cotton. Here is a list with the most recognized ones:
The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) - produced basic standards covering organic production and also textile processing which provide a minimum basis upon which standards in many countries have been based.
The International Organic Accreditation Service (IOAS)
The Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA)
KRAV - in Europe and is a memebr of IFOAM
SCAL - in Europe

I have also found that there is a difference between Organic cotton and Certified Organic cotton.
Organic refers to the standards employed in the production of the raw agricultural products while Certified Organic means that the cotton is untreated by synthetic chemicals and toxic dyes and is manufactured under highest standards to ensure they retain their organic integrity.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I wish there were more apparel companies complying with these standards! I just ran across Edun Live and found out that it is a sister brand to Edun that produces organic tees in Africa...they're actually really great comfortable tees and it's cool that they are produced with a real social conscience...you should look into their new website, it has a lot of info on the project and i think a lot of people are looking for more brands like this!