#Sustainability

2026-02-05

OEKO-TEX® chooses TextileGenesis to advance digital traceability for organic cotton

OEKO-TEX® today announced a full collaboration with TextileGenesis, a Lectra company, to digitally trace and authenticate organic cotton, strengthening fraud prevention across the supply chain. This announcement follows a successful pilot and brings together OEKO-TEX®’s certification expertise and closed testing system with TextileGenesis’ digital traceability platform to deliver a secure, end-to-end solution for managing certified organic cotton flows.

At its core is the digitization of Transaction Certificates, bringing physical material movements and certification data together on a single solution and replacing fragmented, paper-based processes.

Organic cotton continues to gain strategic importance in the global textile and apparel industry as brands, regulators and consumers increasingly demand credible sustainability claims and verified supply chains. This trend is reflected in the rapid expansion of the OEKO-TEX® ORGANIC COTTON certification, which recorded a 381% year-over-year growth by 31 December 2025.

As volumes grow, so does the need for credible, fraud-resistant certification systems. Against this backdrop, OEKO-TEX® chose TextileGenesis to take a future-facing approach to organic cotton certification, tackling one of the industry’s most pressing challenges: fraud prevention through the digitization of Transaction Certificates in organic cotton supply chains.

From fiber to data: Building a secure digital chain of custody

A key component is TextileGenesis’ token-based fibercoinTM technology, which links each physical shipment of organic cotton to a unique digital token within a closed-loop system. This approach enables transparent, tamper-resistant traceability from fiber to finished product, while significantly reducing administrative effort for ginners, spinners, manufacturers and brands.

“OEKO-TEX® plays an important role in setting trusted standards for organic cotton across the textile industry, and we’re pleased to collaborate with the OEKO-TEX® Organic Cotton Standard on this initiative.” says Amit Gautam, CEO of TextileGenesis. “By using TextileGenesis’ pioneering FibercoinTM technology, we are creating a digital chain of custody for OEKO-TEX® certified organic cotton and eliminating pdf/paper-based Transaction certificates. This collaboration helps ensure that organic cotton claims are easier to manage and verifiable at scale.”

The initiative builds on OEKO-TEX®’s established in-house GMO testing, conducted exclusively within its 17 international testing institutes. Both raw fiber and raw yarn are tested, ensuring that organic standards are verified at the very beginning of the supply chain and consistently upheld throughout. From a strategic perspective, the cooperation marks an important milestone in OEKO-TEX®’s broader digital roadmap. According to OEKO-TEX® CEO, Dr. Alfred J. Beerli, the collaboration is a natural next step: “Working with TextileGenesis is a key part of how we are moving our certification system into the digital future. Secure, transparent and data-driven processes strengthen the integrity of OEKO-TEX® while making certification more efficient and scalable – especially for organic cotton certified by us.”

The digitization of Transaction Certificates for OEKO-TEX® ORGANIC COTTON is intentionally designed as a starting point. “We see this as a pilot with much wider potential,”Dr. Beerli explains. “Once established, this approach can be extended step by step to other OEKO-TEX® certifications and product groups.”

Laying the groundwork for the next phase of certification

This next phase in the collaboration builds on the success of a traceability pilot launched in 2025 involving eleven supply chain actors. It enabled OEKO-TEX® to trace selective organic cotton supply chains across India and Bangladesh, involving ginning, spinning mills, fabric mills and certification bodies. Feedback from suppliers demonstrated strong acceptance of the digital approach, highlighting high usability, effective training and comprehensive support. Companies such as KKP Spinning Mills Pvt. Ltd., Milan Ginning Pressing Limited and Atlas Export Enterprises agreed that the collaboration strengthened compliance and trust across the certified supply chain.

OEKO-TEX® and TextileGenesis will now continue to jointly develop the platform, with the aim of scaling digital Transaction Certificates across additional organic cotton supply chains.

Looking ahead, digital platforms will play a central role in safeguarding trust in textile certifications. “Real-time transparency and interoperability will be essential going forward,” predicts Dr. Beerli. “Our ambition is not only to keep pace with industry developments, but to actively help shape future-ready certification standards.”

OEKO-TEX® - New regulations 2025

Fostering trust within the textile and leather industry remains the mission of OEKO-TEX®. Since trust relies on consistently high standards, the OEKO-TEX® Association has released the updated testing criteria, limit values and guidelines for its certifications, based on the latest scientific research and legal developments.

OEKO-TEX® Annual Report 2023/2024 mentions 50,000+ valid certifications

The international OEKO-TEX® association has continued to demonstrate positive business growth, highlighting the critical role of close collaboration and shared commitment in accelerating sustainable change. More than 35,000 textile and leather companies depend on the certificates and product labels issued by OEKO-TEX®’s independent testing institutes. OEKO-TEX® issued more than 50,000 certificates and labels between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024 – an increase of 22% over the previous financial year.

OEKO-TEX® New regulations 2024

Creating trust within the textile and leather industry and for its customers is the mission of OEKO-TEX®. Since trust is based on consistently high quality, the OEKO-TEX® Association is again publishing updates to the applicable test criteria, limit values and guidelines for its certifications. Based on new scientific findings and legal developments, the OEKO-TEX® Association has published the annual updates to its test criteria, limit values and guidelines.

Global Standard gGmbH launches second public consultation for GRTS Draft 2 for the textile industry (1–30 April 2026)

Global Standard gGmbH is pleased to announce the release of Draft 2 of the Global Responsible Textile Standard (GRTS) for its second public consultation. The consultation will be open from 1 April 2026 to 30 April 2026, inviting stakeholders across the textile and apparel value chain to provide input and contribute to the further development of this new Standard.

Textile Exchange publishes cotton Life Cycle Assessment study to strengthen impact data

Textile Exchange has published the first in a series of seven Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies designed to improve the quality and robustness of environmental impact data for raw material production across the fashion, textile, and apparel industry. The first LCA study focuses on cotton and addresses critical data gaps and methodology variability through new high-quality data across key producing countries. The study includes organic, regenerative, recycled, and country averages for conventional cotton production systems, providing a clearer picture of the associated environmental impact.

Experts publish APAC policy priorities

Cascale today announced the publication of its APAC Policy Priorities Paper, developed by the Asia-Pacific (APAC) Policy Member Expert Team (MET) to identify key regional sustainability challenges and provide practical, aligned recommendations for policymakers and industry stakeholders across Asia-Pacific.

New study shows low environmental impact by Cotton made in Africa Organic Cotton from Tanzania

Today, the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) is announcing the results of a comprehensive life-cycle analysis (LCA) for cotton produced in Tanzania under the Cotton made in Africa Organic (CmiA Organic) standard. The study emphasises the small ecological footprint of CmiA Organic verified cotton. This can largely be traced back to the absence of synthetic pesticides, artificial fertilisers, and artificial irrigation. Consequently, CmiA Organic cotton can help the textile industry meet regulatory requirements as well as science-based targets. The results also show that the consequences of climate change threaten the livelihoods of these cotton farmers, even though the type of agriculture they practise barely contributes to climate change.

PERFORMANCE DAYS proves its relevance as the industry’s key meeting point

Held on March 18–19, 2026, PERFORMANCE DAYS once again confirmed its position as a leading international platform for functional textiles. A total of 3.366 trade visitors and around 560 exhibitors gathered in Munich, with the event already kicking off successfully on DAY 0, which received highly positive feedback for its interactive format. Despite challenging conditions caused by the public transport strike in Munich, the event saw strong attendance and a consistently high level of activity across both exhibition days.