SGS Textile Exchange Certification Services Expand to New Regions

SGS has been accredited by IOAS as an independent third-party certification body (CB) to issue certificates to Textile Exchange standards in new regions including Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.

This expanded geographical reach gives the green light for SGS to increase its capability across the textile and footwear industry to offer a one-stop certification service for recyclers, ginners, processors, brands etc. who use recycled, organic and produced under animal welfare conditions materials in their supply chain.

Whilst the Textile Exchange standards are voluntary, they support the industry´s growing desire to use more sustainable materials and emphasize the principles of traceability and chain of custody. Textile Exchange certification is a powerful tool for supporting environmental claims. It ensures that buyers receive reliable, comparable and verifiable information to enable them to make more sustainable decisions and to reduce the risk of "greenwashing".

Yvonne Tse, Vice President, Global Softlines SGS said: "With the continuous promotion of a global circular economy and low-carbon economy, we are seeing major brands launching products using more sustainable materials and there is a real drive to secure corresponding verification or certification for their supply chain.

"We are delighted to receive this expansion to our accreditation to Textile Exchange which enables us to meet this growing need and provide the industry with reliable tools to ensure the accurate recycled content of their products. Certification makes on-product labeling more accessible for brands, boosts consumer confidence and positively impacts the environment by accelerating the use of preferred fibers across the global textile industry."

Accreditation to the Textile Exchange standards covers:

• Content Claim Standard (CCS) - a chain of custody standard that provides companies with a tool to verify a specific input material in a final product. It requires that each organization along the supply chain take sufficient steps to ensure that the integrity and identity of the input material are preserved
• Organic Content Standard (OCS) - verifies the percentage of organically grown content and tracks it from source to final product. Products certified to OCS contain organically grown material that has been independently verified at each stage of the supply chain, from source to final product. Organic cotton is produced and certified to organic agricultural standards, which require practices to sustain ecosystems
• Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) - verifies the percentage of recycled content and tracks it from the source/recycler to the final product. Products certified to RCS contain recycled material that has been independently verified at each stage of the supply chain, from the source/recycler to the final product
• Global Recycled Standard (GRS) - products certified to GRS contain recycled material that has been independently verified at each stage of the supply chain, from the recycler to the final product. In addition, facilities from the source to final supplier have met social, environmental and chemical requirements. The purchase of GRS certified products demonstrates demand for recycled content and best processing practices in the supply chain
• Responsible Animal Fibers (RAF) including alpaca, wool and mohair standards - by means of chain of custody verification that requires that each organization along the supply chain take sufficient steps to ensure that the integrity and identity of the responsible material are preserved from the input to the final product, products certified to Responsible Wool Standard (RWS), Responsible Mohair Standard (RMS) and Responsible Alpaca Standard (RAS), contain wool/mohair/alpaca fiber from farms independently certified to animal welfare and land management requirements
• Responsible Down Standard (RDS) - by means of chain of custody verification that requires that each organization along the supply chain take sufficient steps to ensure that the integrity and identity of the responsible material are preserved from the input to the final output, RDS independently certifies down and feathers against animal welfare requirements and tracks it from farm to final product

All Textile Exchange standards apply the CCS to enable sites to become certified to multiple Textile Exchange standards with minimal additional auditing required.

Founded as Organic Exchange in 2002, Textile Exchange is a global non-profit organization that works closely with all sectors of the textile supply chain. It identifies and shares best practices regarding farming, materials, processing, traceability and product end-of-life to create positive impacts on water, soil, air, animals and the human population created around the world by the textile industry.

SGS in Shanghai - SGS-CSTC Standards Technical Services Co., Ltd. - registration number 141, in Turkey - SGS Supervise Gözetme Etüd Kontrol Servisleri A.Ş. - registration number 145 and in Spain - SGS International Certification Services Ibérica, S.A.U. - registration number 143, have all been accredited by IOAS for the scope of product certification. Please refer to www.ioas.org/accreditation/accredited-bodies/ for current information.

About SGS certification services for Textile Exchange standards

Certification to Textile Exchange standards provides a way to verify environmental, social and animal welfare at the beginning of the supply chain and enables the tracking of preferred materials to the final product. Certification lets manufacturers, brands and retailers measure, manage and track their use of these materials while ensuring their sustainability commitments lead to meaningful and positive change. Read our brochure or contact us to discover more.

About SGS

We are SGS - the world's leading testing, inspection and certification company. We are recognized as the global benchmark for sustainability, quality and integrity. Our 98,000 employees operate a network of 2,650 offices and laboratories, working together to enable a better, safer and more interconnected world.

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