As the world’s largest cotton sustainability initiative, Better Cotton’s goal is to drive significant, lasting impact as we support the more equitable and sustainable production if cotton. In just 15 years, we have aligned more than a fifth of global cotton production with our standards by balancing rigorous assurance with an adaptable framework that works for farmers in various contexts.

Our commitment to continuous improvement is a cornerstone of our strategic plans. That’s why our approach has always been about balancing robust assurance with fair costs for farmers and members.

What Is Better Cotton’s Certification Approach?

Both the EU Commission and European Parliament define a certification scheme as a third-party verification scheme whereby all conformity assessments and the subsequent awards of certification need to be determined by a third-party body.

Under our certification approach, 100% of certification decisions are made by a third party (a verifier not associated with Better Cotton). These Certification Bodies will be required to be accredited to an international body and work in line with international standards (ISO 17065).

As part of our multi-layered assurance approach, we work with these Certification Bodies to ensure they receive quality training, whilst carrying out ongoing second-party monitoring, balancing credibility with scalability and cost-effectiveness.

For a full list of Certification Bodies approved to work with us, please click here

Why Have We Chosen This Approach?

We see third-party certification as essential to bolstering the credibility of our work and amplifying the good work of cotton farmers globally. Alongside evolving traceability capabilities, this will not only strengthen the value chain but also increase demand for Better Cotton.

New legislation is driving a shift towards certification, as well as setting many of the requirements for sustainability labels. One of the key pieces of legislation is the EU directive to empower consumers for the green transition. This directive limits the ways in which sustainability information can be marketed to consumers, specifying that only sustainability labels which are based on third-party certification schemes can be used on products going forward.

Certification, combined with the supply chain transparency that traceability enables, represents the foundation of our upcoming Better Cotton Label.

What Benefits Does Certification Bring?

For the farmers growing Better Cotton, the suppliers handling it and the fashion retailers and brands that use it in their products, certification ensures that robust checks are in place every single step of the way, from the farm right through to the label you see in your favourite stores. This instils confidence in both the companies that invest in Better Cotton and want to shout about it, and their consumers.

Appointing third parties to issue certification decisions brings impartiality and an additional layer of independence. Contracting independents, as well as increasing the total number of audits across the supply chain, will be a fundamental tool to ensure that our farm assurance programmes and our traceability offering are as robust as they can be.

Do I Need To Become Certified?

Only if you wish to process and sell Better Cotton beyond the 2027/28 season. You can become certified during any one of the coming three seasons. However, you will need to be certified before your customers can claim Physical Better Cotton. 

Only if you wish to source, process and sell Physical Better Cotton. Mass Balance does not require certification at this point. Click here for a full list of Certification Bodies approved to work with us. 

Only if you wish to source and sell products containing Physical Better Cotton and use the Better Cotton Label. Mass Balance sourcing does not require certification and is not eligible for any kind of product-level consumer-facing marketing which includes a product label.

For information on our farm-level certification and assurance programme, head to this link.

How Do I Get Certified?

To find out how you can get certified, check out the following guidance documents:

Credibility

Better Cotton is ISEAL Code Compliant. That means our system, including our Assurance Programme, has been independently evaluated against ISEAL’s Codes of Good Practice.

For more information, see isealalliance.org.

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For any enquiries, please use our contact form.