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The SFA was established to tackle sustainability challenges in the production of cashmere, in particular the welfare of the goats, the environmental impact of farming them, and the social welfare of the herders who care for them. Developed in 2015, the standard is already well used in the textiles industry, with clients ranging from luxury brands to household names. 

The SFA Cashmere Standard certification is Control Union’s first cashmere related offering, expanding our family of sustainable textiles certifications.

Those companies seeking to gain certification against this standard can now apply and start the process with Control Union.

For companies already certified by Control Union under other sustainability schemes such as Responsible Wool Standard, organic (OCS, GOTS) or recycled (RCS, GRS) the audit for the SFA certification can be combined with the existing ones, hence saving clients audit efforts. 

The SFA certification follows a chain of custody model to provide traceability of cashmere from the herders in Mongolia and China all the way to the final product.  The SFA standard is based on the Content Claim Standard by Textile Exchange, a standard supporting many other sustainability certifications and so adopted already by the industry.

Franco Costantini, Managing Director of Control Union UK states:

‘The SFA program is a very important addition to Control Union’s sustainability certifications. Cashmere is often under the scrutiny for environmental and animal welfare issues. The certification to the SFA standard provides consumers with the reassurance that the certified cashmere is produced following best practices for the welfare of the goats while conserving local natural habitats and wildlife’.

For more information about certification against the SFA Cashmere Standard call +44 (0)20 7488 2210 or email certificationsuk@controlunion.com

Or read more about the certification against the standard, and start your application here.