Textile FAQ

Certification

1. What are the differences between the difference GRS, RCS, GOTS, OCS, RDS and RWS?

For the most updated standard requirements, please visit:

https://www.global-standard.org/ for GOTS

https://textileexchange.org/integrity/ for GRS, RCS and OCS

https://responsibledown.org/ for RDS

http://responsiblewool.org/ for RWS

2. Who needs to be certified?

Each entity/party who takes legal ownership of the product up until the last B2B transaction needs to be certified, including but not excluding processors, manufacturers, trader, warehousing, supplier and the brand.

3. I’m a retailer/brand, do I need to be certified?

Generally speaking, entities with activities involving B2B transactions require certification; while those with activities involving B2C activities do not.  For details, please visit https://textileexchange.org/integrity/ for Textile Exchange standards and  https://www.global-standard.org/licensing-and-labelling.html for GOTS.

4. I’m a trader, do I need to be certified?

Every party that takes legal ownership of the product needs to be certified, including for both Textile Exchange standards and GOTS.  However, there are certain conditions in which traders are exempt from the certification requirement.  That is usually when a trader’s turnover is less than a certain amount and if the trader does not re-package and/or re-label certified products.  To find out the exact conditions in which these exemptions apply, please visit https://textileexchange.org/integrity/ for Textile Exchange standards and https://www.global-standard.org/licensing-and-labelling.html for GOTS.

5. How frequent would I be audited?

An entity would need to be audited every 12 months in an effort to maintain its certification status.

6. I want to sell my certified products on Amazon or another online retailer, does my company need to be certified?

The main point of consideration of this question is, will the entity remain the owner of the products?

For example, on eBay, owners use the platform to sell items that they own – in this case, they do not need to be certified as this counts as a B2C transaction.

If an entity would hand over ownership of the items they have to the platform before items are sold to the end customer, then they would need to be certified as this would count as a B2B transaction.

7. Where can I find certified suppliers?

For all Organic Content Standard (OCS), Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) and Global Recycled Standard (GRS), please visit https://textileexchange.org/integrity/ and look under “Find Certified Companies”.

For Responsible Down Standard (RDS), please visit http://responsibledown.org/for-business/find-certified-companies/all-companies-certified-to-the-responsible-down-standard/

For Responsible Wool Standard (RWS), please visit http://responsiblewool.org/find-rws-certified-organizations/

For GOTS, please visit https://www.global-standard.org/public-database.html and look under “Search for Producers and Products”.

8. What is the certification process?

The general certification process is as follows:

Application submission  ->
Offer ->
Payment ->
Audit ->
Non-Conformities settlement if any found ->
Certification

9. How long does the certification process take?

We aim to process your application and provide you with an offer letter within 7 business days of receipt.  It is difficult to estimate the duration of between application to the audit date due to the fact that an application can be rejected due to incomplete or incorrect information given or a client may have questions before accepting the offer.  In such cases, additional time will need to be spent to resolve them before the certification process can move forward. 

Depending on the availability of the auditors, an audit can be planned within 4-6 weeks upon the signing of the contract from the client.  We will aim to have a decision made on your certification within 4 weeks after the date of audit (in cases where no Non-Conformities are found).

Please note that whether this period will also be extended and for how long this period will extend will depend greatly on the number of Non-Conformities and the manner in which Non-Conformities are to be settled.

10. What does it cost to be certified?

Our audit and certification service is calculated by number of days we expect to need to do a thorough assessment. We believe that, contrary to ‘payment-by-volume’ this is a fair pricing structure. Note that in our contracts we specify the fees that are collected on behalf of standard-setting bodies such as GOTS and Textile Exchange. Our daily fees are competitive, and take into account regional pricing levels.

If you would like to obtain a quotation for RDS/RWS, please contact your local office for an application form.  To find contact details of your local office, please visit https://certifications.controlunion.com/en/contact-us/find-an-office?activity=Certifications

If you would like to obtain a quotation for all other Textile Exchange standards and GOTS, please fill out an online application form here and we will aim to provide you with an offer within 7 business days:  https://certifications.controlunion.com/icu/cert-tex-application/index.html

11. Great! I am ready to start the certification process, what do I need to do?

Excellent. 

For Global Organic Textile Standards (GOTS), Organic Content Standard (OCS), Content Claim Standard (CCS), Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) and Global Recycled Standard (GRS), please fill out our online application form here https://certifications.controlunion.com/icu/cert-tex-application/index.html

For Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) and Responsible Down Standard (RDS), please contact your local Control Union office to request an application form. 

To find contact details of your local office, please visit https://certifications.controlunion.com/en/contact-us/find-an-office?activity=Certifications

We aim to process your application and provide you with an outcome within 7 business days of receipt.  

Auditing

12. What will be checked and controlled in the audit?

For more information on what will be checked and controlled for Textile Exchange standards, we refer you to Textile Exchange Content Claim Standard Implementation Manual, which you can find on their website here https://textileexchange.org/; and the most updated Manual for the implementation of the Global Organic Textile Standard for GOTS, which you can find on their website here http://www.global-standard.org

13. I plan to apply for certification for two or more standards, can audits be combined to save cost?

Yes.  Simply check all the standards that apply to you on the online application form here https://certifications.controlunion.com/icu/cert-tex-application/index.html

14. If I have already been audited and certified for one or more standards, and I decide to apply for certification for another standard, do I need to be audited?

Yes.

Logo use and labelling

15. I’m a retailer/brand and I am not certified, can we / how can we use the standard logo?

For retailers and brands who sell their products B2C exclusively, yes you can use the logo.

In this case, if your suppliers have been certified by Control Union, you can submit a logo approval application from to use a given standard logo as long as you comply with Textile Exchange’s logo use claims guide.  You can find these guidelines for Organic Content Standard (OCS), Content Claim Standard (CCS), Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) and Global Recycled Standard (GRS) here https://textileexchange.org/integrity/

For Responsible Wool Standard (RWS), you can find the logo use and claims guide here http://responsiblewool.org/certification/

For Responsible Down Standard (RDS), you can find the logo use and claims guide here
http://responsibledown.org/for-business/certification/

For GOTS, we refer you to this document provided by GOTS here to find out whether you need to be certified:  https://www.global-standard.org/images/stories/GOTS_Flyer_Are_You_Allowed_18.pdf

When you are ready to submit a logo approval form, simply request a logo approval form at certification@controlunion.com and send it back with the required documents and payment information.  Please note that the entire logo approval process can take up to one month from the date we receive your application, so we recommend you plan ahead. 

16. I’m non-certified brand/retailer and would like to use a standard’s logo. I understand that in order to have a logo approved for use we need to submit a TC from our supplier; however, by the time we have our finished garments, the hang-tag / swing ticket will have already been printed and attached to the garments.  Is it possible to have our logo approved without submitting a TC?

No.  Unfortunately, in order to ensure a valid TC will be presented along with the use of the logo, we request that valid TCs be submitted along with your logo approval application.

17. Can I change the colours of the logos?

No.  Logos must be used according to the logo use and claims guide for Global Recycle Standard (GRS), Organic Content Standard (OCS), Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) and Content Claim Standard (CCS), which can be found here https://textileexchange.org/integrity/  and here for the Licensing and Labeling Guidelines for GOTS, which can be found here https://www.global-standard.org/licensing-and-labelling.html

For Responsible Wool Standard (RWS), you can find the logo use and claims guide here http://responsiblewool.org/certification/

For Responsible Down Standard (RDS), you can find the logo use and claims guide here
http://responsibledown.org/for-business/certification/

18. We are a retailer/brand and we are not certified, what wording can I use to communicate the fact that we are selling certified products?

General marketing guidelines can be made for both Textile Exchange standards and GOTS.  For more information, please visit labeling guidelines for each of TE’s standard here https://textileexchange.org/integrity/ and the labelling guidelines for GOTS here https://www.global-standard.org/licensing-and-labelling.html.

For specific questions regarding communication, please contact Textile Exchange and GOTS directly.

Transaction Certificates

19. I have received a Transaction Certificate (TC) from a supplier, how do I check the authenticity of this TC?

For Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), Global Recycle Standard (GRS), Organic Content Standard (OCS), Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) and Content Claim Standard (CCS), TCs produced by Control Union come with a QR code.

Simply download any QR scanner at any app store, use it to scan the QR code of the TC and on there you will be able to see if information shown matches that of the TC that you have received from the supplier.

For Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) and Responsible Down Standard (RWS), there are a few ways to check the authenticity of your TC, contact us at certification@controlunion.com

ICU Client Portal

20. What is the link to the ICU Client Portal?

You can find our ICU Client Portal here https://certifications.controlunion.com/icu/en/login

Contact Information

To find contact details of your local office, please visit https://certifications.controlunion.com/en/contact-us/find-an-office?activity=Certifications