Q: What is organic farming?
A: The term organic describes a method of farming without the use of toxic and persistent pesticides or fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradiation or genetic engineering, and are certified by an accredited independent organization. It is a system of farming that strives for a balance with nature, using methods and materials that are of low impact to the environment.

Q: What are the government standards established for organic farming production?
A: The US the standard is the USDA National Organic Program (NOP). The EU standard is the EEC 2092/2091. The Japanese standard is JAS. India and Australia also have organic standards.

Q: Who certifies farms to organic standards?
A: Certification is done by independent, third party certifiers accredited to the standards being certified against.

Q: What are the steps to becoming a certified farm?
A:

• Submit application to accredited independent 3rd party certifier
• Develop Farm Plan for Ecosystem Management
• Develop an Internal Control System, includes record keeping
• Annual Inspections by certifier
• Transition period of 2-3 years depending on standard

Q: What are the differences between organic and conventional farming?
A: The major differences are in the following categories: seeds, weed control, soil and water and harvest practice. For more information, check out our organic cotton pamphlet or Symbiosis booklet.

Q: Which country produces the most organic cotton globally for 2006/2007?
A: India produced 32% of the global organic cotton supply and Turkey produced 39%.

Q: How does organic farming support bio-diversity?
A: Through crop rotation, promotion of soil health, and through an absence of agriculture chemicals that effect the ability of wild life and insects around the farm to thrive.

Q: Which country produces the most organic cotton globally for 2006/2007?
A: India and Turkey are tied for the most organic cotton fiber production. For the previous growing season, Turkey was the leader.

Q: Where can I get details about global organic cotton production?
A: Organic Exchange produces a Fiber Report annually, the first one was issued in 2006. The Fiber Report is distributed free to members or for $250. An executive summary of the 2006 report is available on this site. The report details fiber production globally by region and country, gives estimates for the coming seasons production and lists farming projects.

Q: Where can I learn more about organic farming projects?
A: Please see our publication Sowing the Seeds of Change.

Q: What about rotation crops, why are they important?
A: Besides being an integral part of farming organically and required under organic standards to enhance the quality of the soil. Rotation crops provide food security and alternative sources of income for farming communities.

Q: Why organic?
A: Organic is beneficial to the environment; beneficial to farmers, their families and their communities and gives added value for retailers.

Q: How should brands and retailers accurately and effectively label organic fiber products?
A: Details on how to label your garment can be found in our Guide to Labeling Organic Textile Products. It is free to members, $250 to non-members. A working group consisting of certification experts from around the world contributed to the development and review of our guide.

Q: Can I say “made with organic fiber” if there is less than 100% organic fiber in my product?
A: The legal requirements on labeling vary from country to country. In the United States, unless the products have been processed to the National Organic Program (NOP) standards (which were developed for food), the only allowable claim is “made with (x%) organic cotton.” In Europe and Japan, there are no laws governing the labeling of processed non-food products. In all cases, the language for organic claims will be laid out by the standards to which the products are certified. Further information can be found in our Guide to Labeling Organic Textile Products.

Q. What is the difference between voluntary and legal organic labeling requirements?
A: Legal labeling requirements apply in the country where products are being sold. For example, if a shirt is made in India and sold in the U.S., the label must comply with the laws of the U.S., set by the NOP, governing the use of the term organic. The product label must also comply with the marketing laws of the U.S., set by the Federal Trade Commission. Voluntary standards, however, are those set by private or non-governmental organizations. Examples include the OE 100, OE Blended and GOTS. There is no legal requirement to follow these standards, but they offer many advantages such as a clear protocol for supply chains to follow, assured product integrity, increased validity to marketing claims, and third party verfication.

Q: What is the minimum certification necessary to legally label my products organic?
A: The minimum certification for organic labeling is the farm certification, but be certain that it is valid for the country where the products are to be sold. However, note that you will also have to ensure that the organic fiber can be tracked from the certified farms through all steps of processing, and into your final products.

Q: How do I ensure that the organic cotton fiber I purchased is truly organic, and that the fiber makes it all the way into my product?
A: You must be able to track the organic cotton in your product back to the bales of cotton produced on a certified organic farm.

Q: What is the easiest way to track the organic fiber through the supply chain?
A: Organic Exchange offers an On-line Tracking Service that makes tracking organic fiber through the supply chain flexible, efficient, accurate and effective. Accounts for this service are just one of the benefits of membership with OE. This service is offered in partnership with Historic Futures.

Q: Do I need to certify the processing?
A: In Europe, North America and Japan there are no legal requirements to certify the processing of organic fibers; no government standards have been developed beyond the farm gate. However, there are many benefits to using a fully certified supply chain. Full certification will give you peace of mind, and allow you to market your products with confidence.

Q: How must organic fiber be handled as it moves through the supply chain to ensure that no contamination has occurred and to support traceability?
A: The organic fiber must be segregated, labeled and processed on a cleaned out or dedicated line that is physically isolated. The processor must have a system in place to track the organic fiber as it moves through production.

Q: Is there a certification that deals only with organic fiber content, and not other issues like processing, social or quality claims?
A: Yes, the Organic Exchange 100 Standard is being specifically developed to certify that products made with 100% organic fiber have been tracked through the production chain and segregated to prevent commingling with other fibers. The OE 100 Standard does not certify other claims dealing with processing, social or quality issues.

Q: Which standard would I use if my product contains a blend of organic and conventional fiber?
A: The OE Blended Standard covers products made with a blend of organic and conventional fiber.

Q: Which standard would I use if my product contains less than 70% organic fiber?
A: The OE Blended Standard covers products made with less than 70% organic fiber. The remaining fiber can be synthetic or natural, organic or conventional.

Q: What is the best standard to use if I want to ensure the maximum integrity of my products?
A: The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is extremely robust; it covers the use and processing of organic fiber, as well as social, environmental and quality criteria. GOTS is a voluntary processing standard developed to work towards bringing global uniformity to sustainable textile processing.

Q: Why would I use GOTS or another voluntary processing standard and not the OE standards?
A: In addition to assuring that your supply chain has taken all the right steps to track your organic cotton, as the OE standards accomplish, you may want to make additional claims about your products concerning processing standards, transportation, packaging, social or quality issues.

Q: If I certify my products against the OE Blended or the OE 100 Standard, are there logos I can use to display this?
A: Yes, contact the agency that certified your products to obtain use of the logos.

Q: Is the OE Organic Cotton logo attached to any certification?
A: This logo is not attached to any standards or certification—it was developed as an icon to raise awareness about organic cotton. Note: the OE Organic Cotton logo may be used only by OE members.

Q: What about the official Organic Exchange logo?
A: The official Organic Exchange logo must not be used in any way that infers your products have been certified to Organic Exchange’s, or other, standards. It may only be used to indicate membership in Organic Exchange.

Q: What is transitional cotton or cotton in transition?
A: There is a 3 year period under the NOP Standard and a 2 year period under the EEC 2092/2091 Standard for farmers transitioning their land to organic production from conventional production. Cotton in transition, transitional cotton or cotton in conversion, is cotton being grown on land in the transitional period according to the organic standard.

Q: Can cotton in transition be labeled that way on a garment?
A: Currently labeling for transitional cotton is only allowed in the EU where it is called organic in-conversion and needs to be certified under the EU organic standard. Organic Exchange has a task force currently focused on transitional cotton. A member of the task force is lobbying the USDA, the US government agency that creates the rules for organics, to be able to label transitional cotton in the US.

Q: Why are brands and suppliers and farmers interested in developing a market for this cotton?
A: In order to best grow the industry, we need to ensure and encourage enough farmers are moving from conventional to organic farming. Crop yields are typically lower and risks higher during the transition, so farmers are at financial risk, we need to support them so that they thrive and survive. Value will be added to the cotton and thus a better price for the farmer if a label can be used to identify that the cotton is transitioning to organic.

Q:What are the benefits during the transitional period?
A: Farmers, the land and the cotton being grown in transition to organic must be under the supervision of an accredited certifying body. This means that adherence to organic standards starts immediately. So all organic standards, such as no chemicals on the land are being followed during this 3 year period.

Q: What are OE’s plans regarding helping the industry with marketing transitional cotton?
A: Depending on the details of the USDA’s approval, we hope to offer messaging for hang tags and content labels as well as a transitional cotton logo.

Q: If I want to get involved in promoting this in the market or on the farm end, what can I do?
A: You can become a part of our Messaging forTransitional Organic Cotton task force.

Q: What are genetically modified (GM) organisms and GM foods?
A: Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are organisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered. The technology is often called “modern biotechnology” or “gene technology”, sometimes also “recombinant DNA technology” or “genetic engineering”. It allows selected individual genes to be transferred from one organism into another, also between non-related species.

Q: Is there genetically modified cotton?
A: There are many varieties of GM cotton, BT is the most well known. BT cotton is genetically engineered to resist insects with the addition of a deadly bacteria called bacillus thuringiensis. Over 83% of the conventional cotton grown in the US is GM.

Q: Do organic growing standards allow GMO’s?
A: No, none of the organic growing standards established by any government allow for GMO’s. In fact, the EEC has restricted the use of GMO’s in all farming in the EU.

Q: What are the key concerns about GMO’s?
A:

• Flow of enhanced genetic material through cross pollination to other related crops and wild plants.
• Genetically engineered plants which are designed to kill pests may kill beneficial insects which would result in loss of biodiversity and the benefits these insects bring to the crop.
• Questionable validity of industry data concerning reduced pesticide and/or herbicide use with GM crops as promised.
• Genetic engineering to develop insect resistant crops may encourage the faster development of resistance to pest control products in insect populations, thereby leading to the use of more or stronger pesticides.
• Seed security as seeds are patented so that a farmer can not collect seeds from a gm crop to sow the following season. New seeds need to be purchased.

Q: Is there a third party certification available that assures non-gmo status?
A: Yes, CERT ID is a global company active in providing third-party certification programs to growers, agricultural processors, food ingredient producers, food and feed manufacturers, animal producers and food retailers. CERT ID offers traceability solutions that deliver certainty, transparency and safety.

Q: What resources does Organic Exchange offer for sourcing organic fiber products and associated products and services?
A: Our Sourcing Directory lists our members by product or service and is updated monthly. Our web database lists members for free and non-member companies for $250 annually under B2B and/or B2C sections.

Q: Where do I source organic fiber?
A: Organic Exchange produces a Fiber Report annually, the first one was issued in 2006. The Fiber Report is distributed free to members or for $250. The report details fiber production globally by region and country, gives estimates for the coming seasons production and lists farming projects. An executive summary of last year’s report is available on our website.