Resources
Data definitionsCertifications
The 19 certification schemes named on the products Apparel Signals reads, side by side: what each one certifies, where in the supply chain it audits, and whether the certified material is physically in the garment.
| Scheme | What it certifies | Where it audits | Chain of custody | Type | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Better Cotton InitiativeBetter Cotton Initiative | What it certifiesCotton from farms certified to the BCI Farm Standard. Under mass balance a product need not contain any of it; since May 2026 a new product's label needs physically traced BCI Cotton. | Where it auditsFarms against the farm standard, and supply chain companies and brands against the chain of custody standard, by independent certification bodies. | Chain of custody
| TypeProduct certification | SourceBCI Chain of Custody Standard 1.2, effective 6 January 2026, with the BCI Cotton label page, 2025 |
| Forest Stewardship CouncilForest Stewardship Council, A.C. | What it certifiesWood-based material, such as viscose, acetate or a wooden button, from FSC-certified forests, recycled sources or controlled wood. FSC 100% is certified forest alone; an FSC Mix label needs 70% or credits. | Where it auditsForests, against FSC's forest standards, then every company that owns the material and sells it with an FSC claim or labels it. Retailers of labelled goods are exempt. | Chain of custody
| TypeProduct certification | SourceChain of Custody Certification, FSC-STD-40-004 V3-1, effective 1 September 2021 |
| Global Organic Textile StandardGlobal Standards gGmbH | What it certifiesOrganic fibre content, with environmental, chemical, social and due diligence rules for every processing site. A product labelled organic needs 95% certified organic fibre, “made with organic” 70%. Fibre in conversion is labelled as such. | Where it auditsEvery processing, manufacturing and trading site from the first processor, the ginner for cotton, once a year. Farms hold organic certificates instead. Retailers that do not relabel or repack are exempt. | Chain of custody
| TypeProduct certification | SourceGlobal Organic Textile Standard 8.1, June 2026, binding for audits from 1 March 2027, with its implementation manual |
| Global Recycled StandardTextile Exchange | What it certifiesRecycled content, at least 20% of the product, with social, environmental and chemical rules for every processing site. A product label needs 50%. It does not test the finished product for residues. | Where it auditsEvery site from the recycler to the brand, the last business-to-business seller, on content and on its social, environmental and chemical rules. Retailers selling only to consumers are exempt. | Chain of custody
| TypeProduct certification | SourceGlobal Recycled Standard 5.0, July 2026, with the Content Claim Standard 3.1 and the Standards Claims Policy 1.4 |
| The Good Cashmere Standard®Aid by Trade Foundation | What it certifiesCashmere from Inner Mongolian herders and their buying and dehairing stations, audited for goat welfare, land and biodiversity, and working conditions. A product claim needs at least 30% GCS cashmere. | Where it auditsBuying and dehairing stations and a sample of their herders, once a year. Mills, traders, garment makers and licensed brands are audited for chain of custody under the Cashmere Transparency Standard. | Chain of custody
| TypeProduct certification | SourceThe Good Cashmere Standard® 2.0, 2024, with the AbTF Cashmere Transparency Standard 1.0, September 2026, and the GCS Claims Framework 3, August 2026 |
| Masters of FLAX FIBRE™Alliance for European Flax-Linen & HempAlso cited as Certified European Grown | What it certifiesFlax grown and scutched in France, Belgium or the Netherlands under its farming rules (GMO-free seed, irrigation only when needed, field retting), traced to a product of at least 50% linen. It was European Flax™ until 2025. | Where it auditsProcessors and traders, and from 2026 scutchers and a yearly sample of flax farmers under a collective 3 year certificate, all by Bureau Veritas. | Chain of custody
| TypeProduct certification | SourceMasters of FLAX FIBRE™ certification page, with the Communication Guidelines, 15 September 2025 |
| Organic Content StandardTextile Exchange | What it certifiesOrganically grown fibre, at least 5% of the product, traced from certified organic farms. An “OCS 100” label needs 95%. Fibre in conversion is claimed as in conversion. It sets no processing, chemical or social rules. | Where it auditsEvery site from the first processor, the ginner for cotton, to the brand, the last business-to-business seller. Farms hold organic certificates instead. Retailers selling only to consumers are exempt. | Chain of custody
| TypeProduct certification | SourceOrganic Content Standard 3.0, 2020, with the Content Claim Standard 3.1 and the Standards Claims Policy 1.4 |
| Recycled Claim StandardTextile ExchangeAlso cited as Recycled Content Declaration | What it certifiesRecycled content, at least 5% of the product, traced from the recycler to the final product. An “RCS 100” label needs 95%. It sets no social, environmental or chemical rules for processing. | Where it auditsEvery site from the recycler to the brand, the last business-to-business seller. Waste collectors declare their own source and may be visited. Retailers selling only to consumers are exempt. | Chain of custody
| TypeProduct certification | SourceRecycled Claim Standard 3.0, July 2026, with the Content Claim Standard 3.1 and the Standards Claims Policy 1.4 |
| RegenagriRegenagri CIC | What it certifiesFarms that meet its regenerative agriculture standard on soil, crop protection, water, biodiversity, animal welfare and labour. A content claim needs at least 5% certified material. | Where it auditsFarms or farm groups and every processing and manufacturing site, once a year, by approved certification bodies. Brands and retailers need only a licence to make a claim. | Chain of custody
| TypeProduct certification | SourceRegenagri Chain of Custody Standard, Textiles 2.0, August 2025, with the Regenagri Claims Requirements 2.0, 2025 |
| Regenerative Organic Certified®Regenerative Organic Alliance | What it certifiesFarms that already hold organic certification and also meet its rules on soil health, animal welfare and fairness to farmers and workers, at Bronze, Silver or Gold. A product seal needs at least 70% ROC content. | Where it auditsFarms, alongside their organic certification. Supply chain businesses register with the Regenerative Organic Alliance under organic chain of custody rules, and Gold level processors are audited. | Chain of custody
| TypeProduct certification | SourceFramework for Regenerative Organic Certified® 4.1, June 2023, with the Supply Chain Guidelines 4.0, March 2023 |
| Responsible Alpaca StandardTextile Exchange | What it certifiesAlpaca fibre from farms audited for animal welfare, land management and working conditions. A product needs at least 5% RAS fibre, and all of its virgin alpaca must be RAS. | Where it auditsEvery site from the alpaca farm through processing to the brand, the last business-to-business seller. Slaughterhouses are optional. Retailers selling only to consumers are exempt. | Chain of custody
| TypeProduct certification | SourceResponsible Alpaca Standard 1.0, 2021, with the Content Claim Standard 3.1 and the Standards Claims Policy 1.4 |
| Responsible Down StandardTextile Exchange | What it certifiesDown and feathers from birds whose welfare is audited from hatchery to slaughter, with live plucking and force feeding banned. All virgin down in a labelled product must be RDS. It sets no social rules. | Where it auditsEvery site from hatchery, farm and slaughterhouse through down processing to the brand, the last business-to-business seller. Parent farms are optional. Retailers selling only to consumers are exempt. | Chain of custody
| TypeProduct certification | SourceResponsible Down Standard 3.0, 2019, with the Content Claim Standard 3.1 and the Standards Claims Policy 1.4 |
| Responsible Mohair StandardTextile Exchange | What it certifiesMohair from angora goat farms audited for animal welfare, land management and working conditions. A product needs at least 5% RMS mohair, and all of its virgin mohair must be RMS. | Where it auditsEvery site from the goat farm through processing to the brand, the last business-to-business seller. Slaughterhouses are optional. Retailers selling only to consumers are exempt. | Chain of custody
| TypeProduct certification | SourceResponsible Mohair Standard 1.2, 2021, with the Content Claim Standard 3.1 and the Standards Claims Policy 1.4 |
| Responsible Wool StandardTextile Exchange | What it certifiesWool from farms audited for animal welfare, land management and working conditions, with mulesing banned. A product needs at least 5% RWS wool, and all of its virgin wool must be RWS. | Where it auditsEvery site from the farm through processing and garment making to the brand, the last business-to-business seller. Slaughterhouses are optional. Retailers selling only to consumers are exempt. | Chain of custody
| TypeProduct certification | SourceResponsible Wool Standard 2.2, 2021, with the Content Claim Standard 3.1 and the Standards Claims Policy 1.4 |
| CottonConnectCottonConnect | What it certifiesCotton from CottonConnect's sourcing programmes. Its own standard, REEL Cotton, covers farm practice, environment and working conditions for farmer groups and gins, and its certification stops at the gin. | Where it auditsFarmer producer groups and gins, once a year, by independent certification bodies, above CottonConnect's own monitoring and the farmers' self-assessment. | Chain of custody
| TypeProgramme | SourceREEL Cotton Standard 1.0, April 2025, with the REEL Standards System Assurance and Certification Manual 1.0, May 2025 |
| Algodão Brasileiro ResponsávelAbrapa, through the Instituto ABR | What it certifiesCotton farms and gins in Brazil that meet its 9 criteria on labour, environment and governance, with Brazilian law as the baseline. It certifies the farm, not a product; the SouABR programme traces ABR cotton into products made only of it. | Where it auditsEach participating farm and gin, on site once a year, by third-party audit firms, after the state cotton growers' associations run a preliminary checklist. | Chain of custody
| TypeSite certification | SourcePrograma ABR, Quem somos, with the SouABR adhesion policy 2, October 2025 |
| Certificação de Sustentabilidade do Couro BrasileiroCentro das Indústrias de Curtumes do Brasil (CICB) | What it certifiesA Brazilian tannery's performance on 173 environmental, social and economic indicators. It recognises the company, not the leather or the product. | Where it auditsThe tannery itself. CICB names ABNT and Inmetro, Brazil's standards and accreditation bodies, as behind the certification. | Chain of custody
| TypeSite certification | SourceCICB, Dúvidas frequentes, Certificações |
| Leather Working GroupLeather Working Group | What it certifiesA leather manufacturer's environmental performance and compliance, scored against the LWG audit. The certificate belongs to the site that made the leather, not to the product. | Where it auditsLeather manufacturing sites, with a separate audit for leather traders. Traceability back to the slaughterhouse is scored; farms are not assessed. | Chain of custody
| TypeSite certification | SourceLWG Leather Manufacturer Audit Standard, Protocol 7.2.2, November 2022 |
| IBD CertificaçõesQIMA | What it certifiesA certification body, not a standard. On organic cotton it attests that the farm or processor meets the organic rules it was audited against: Brazil's, the EU's or the USDA's. | Where it auditsFarms and processing operations, by IBD's own inspectors, accredited by Inmetro for Brazil's organic rules, by IOAS for the EU's and by the USDA for its National Organic Program. | Chain of custody
| TypeCertification body | SourceQIMA, Accreditations, the IBD Certificações entries |
Each row is written from its owner’s published standard, linked in its source column, and was last checked against it on 31 October 2026. A scheme cited on a product page is recorded as the brand discloses it; Apparel Signals never verifies a garment against the scheme.