Developed based on decades of experience from the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), GRTS addresses an industry gap by offering environmental and human rights criteria for textiles made from plant, animal, synthetic, man-made cellulosic, and recycled fibres.
GOTS previously restricted certification to products made with organic fibres, whereas GRTS now recognises third-party fibre standards across numerous raw material categories.
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Global Standards managing director Claudia Kersten said: “Following our mission as a non-profit Voluntary Sustainability Standard setter, we aim to ensure the highest level of social and environmental impact in textile value chains. GRTS is a strategic and exciting step for us. By offering a standard that covers fibres beyond organic and building it on the same system as GOTS, we support the industry’s business case for sustainability and enable more positive impact together.”
GRTS certification requires products to contain at least 90% fibres verified to standards recognised by the GRTS system. The standard sets out requirements for environmental performance, chemical controls, human rights, business conduct, due diligence, and traceability for all processed materials.
Fibres must be certified by independent third parties to establish social, ecological, and traceability criteria, with explicit restrictions on highly hazardous chemicals and genetically modified organisms.
Certified status is granted through a network of 27 independent bodies accredited to perform assessments at every stage of processing and trading.
The system incorporates chain-of-custody principles, identity preservation, and transaction certificates to support the traceability of certified fibre content throughout the supply chain.
For textile businesses already operating under GOTS certification, the transition to or addition of GRTS certification may be streamlined, as both share common requirements and verification processes.
The launch follows industry calls for a unified standard to address environmental and human rights risks associated with non-organic and recycled fibres, for which no equivalent certification route is said to have existed within the Global Standards framework until now.
