BCI Partner the Brazilian Cotton Growers Association (ABRAPA) have announced that they willimplement a National Cotton Quality Database: as part of the existing Standard Cotton HVI Program developed by ABRAPA, this database will make Brazil only the second country in the world, along with the United States, to provide such levels of transparency and quality assurancein cotton production. The database will provide real-time analytics on the production and quality of cotton bales produced in Brazil each year,dramatically increasing the traceability and quality assurance of Brazil’s cotton supply chain.
“The creation of a national cotton quality database is an important step toward achieving our goal of 100% transparency of HVI quality results for cotton produced in Brazil.” said ABRAPA President Gilson Pinesso. “The ability to provide buyers with accurate and timely cotton quality data will directly increase market confidence in the fibre that our members produce, while the greater transparency and traceability will benefit every member of the value chain – from the farm to the retailer.”
The National Cotton Database is one of the three main components of the Standard Cotton HVI Program, along with the construction of a central reference laboratory and the implementation of the International Laboratory Certification program run by ICA Bremen, an international centre of excellence for cotton testing, research and quality training.
ABRAPA has been BCI’s Partner in Brazil since 2010. They became a Strategic Partner in 2014 after completing a benchmarking exercise which aligned ABRAPA’s own ABR (Responsible Brazilian Cotton) programme, with the Better Cotton Standard. This means that cotton produced under the ABR standard can be sold as Better Cotton, increasing global supply. To read more about BCI’s work in Brazil, click here.
