Known for cotton standards such as Cotton Made in Africa (CmiA) and Cotton Made in Africa Organic, the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) has announced that its new transparency standard will be implemented in the first quarter of 2025. To guarantee that apparel labelling is transparent, the foundation joined the Make the Label Count transparency effort in November of last year.
From the cotton field to the final product, the new AbTF Transparency Standard will guarantee the safety, dependability, and transparency of sustainable cotton certified under the Regenerative Cotton Standard (RCS) or Cotton Made in Africa (CmiA) globally.
Implementing risk-based desktop audits by independent auditors is a crucial component of the new standard. These audits will examine tracking-system data at every stage of production as well as related documents like delivery notes and production reports.
Gerlind Bäz, Senior Project Manager at Aid by Trade Foundation, explained that while the existing tracking system, launched in 2018, already ensures cotton’s compliance with standards like Cotton made in Africa and Regenerative Cotton, the new standard goes further. Independent auditors will now regularly verify adherence to transparency requirements throughout the supply chain.
Regular self-assessment questionnaires at every phase of the supply chain are another component of the AbTF Transparency Standard. Independent audit firms also provide on-site onboarding audits for spinning mills.
