Cotton Egypt Association (CEA), the organisation behind Egyptian Cotton, is doubling down on efforts to tackle fraud in the cotton supply chain by naming and shaming manufacturers who fail its rigorous accreditation scheme.

The latest effort to actively root out non-genuine goods from the cotton supply chain will see a ‘Black List’ published on its website. CEA is also launching a global task force of mystery shoppers to purchase products marked as Egyptian Cotton which will then be sent for testing.

Only products made from 100% Egyptian Cotton can carry the trademarked pyramid cotton logo.

However, the Egyptian Cotton brand has had to re-establish its reputation since 2011 when output fell drastically following political upheaval. It suffered another setback in 2016 when US department store retailer Target Corporation withdrew all luxury bed linen produced by India’s Welspun Global Brands after non-Egyptian cotton was used in what were supposed to be 500-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets and pillowcases.

Despite the hurdles, Egyptian Cotton is still widely recognised by consumers as a luxury brand. A recent US consumer survey also found Egyptian Cotton was the name most people associated with quality and were prepared to pay a premium for, ahead of Pima cotton, Turkish cotton and Supima. 

Recent moves to improve confidence in the product include the appointment of an official steering committee to safeguard its future and the introduction of a partnership with Bureau Veritas and a new rigorous accreditation process, which uses DNA testing to distinguish between genuine Egyptian Cotton and regular cotton.

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Most recently CEA announced a collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in a bid to boost sustainability efforts and improve conditions for supply chain workers – including a pilot launch of the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) for the first time in Egypt.

Khaled Schuman, executive director of the Cotton Egypt Association, comments: “Cotton Egypt Association has been working tirelessly over the last three years to protect the integrity and authenticity of the brand, to protect its retail partners and to ensure consumers they are buying genuine Egyptian Cotton goods. As well as taking the appropriate action, we will name and shame those trying to pass off non-genuine goods as Egyptian Cotton.”

Last week, Applied DNA Sciences also claimed to have closed the loop on traceability for Egyptian Pima using DNA-based genotyping assays for cotton authentication from ginned fibre to finished textile product.