GOTS and OEKO-TEX Certification for Textile Exporters

When a European or American buyer asks whether you are "GOTS certified", they are not asking about your fabric. They are asking whether every processing step behind that fabric sits inside an audited chain of custody, and whether you can produce a transaction certificate for the exact shipment on their purchase order. This guide sets out what GOTS and OEKO-TEX actually certify, what they cost, and what you may legally print once the EU's green-claims rules apply from 27-09-2026.

A certified supply chain is not a certified fabric

Product certification tests an article against a limit list. OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 works this way: you send samples, the laboratory tests them for harmful substances, and you receive a certificate covering those articles. It says nothing about who grew the cotton or how your dyehouse workers are paid.

Supply-chain (chain of custody) certification certifies the operator, not the article. GOTS, OCS, RCS and GRS work this way. The certification body audits your premises, input and output records, chemical inputs and labour practices, then issues a scope certificate listing the processes and product categories you are approved to handle. Every operator from post-harvest handling through garment making, plus traders, exporters and importers, must hold their own scope certificate. One uncertified link — a job-work printer, a stitching unit, a trading intermediary — breaks the chain and the goods cannot be sold as GOTS at the far end.

So the honest answer to "is this fabric GOTS?" is: only if it was made under a certified chain and travels with a transaction certificate.

The five standards you are actually asked for

The GOTS route for an Indian mill or maker-up

1. Choose an approved certification body. Bodies active in India include CU Inspections and Certifications India, Control Union Certifications, Ecocert Greenlife, ICEA, CCPB, CERES, GCL International, IDFL and USB Certification. Verify the current list on global-standard.org before signing — a certificate from a delisted body is worthless. Check the body's approved scopes: mechanical processing, wet processing, trading and chemical input approval are separately accredited.
2. Define scope honestly. List every process you do in-house and every one you subcontract — sizing, dyeing, printing, washing, stitching, packing. Subcontractors must be certified themselves or brought under your certificate with signed agreements and audit access. Undeclared job-work is the commonest first-audit failure.
3. Fix chemical inputs first. Every dye, pigment, auxiliary, size and finish used on GOTS goods must be on a positive list or hold a valid Letter of Approval from a GOTS-approved assessor. Collect written LoAs from suppliers, track expiry dates and revalidate before they lapse — an expired LoA on a live batch is a non-conformity.
4. Build the social and environmental file. No forced or child labour, freedom of association, wage progression, working hours, health and safety, non-discrimination — evidenced by appointment letters, wage registers, PF and ESI records, age proofs, a grievance mechanism and a worker committee. Wet processors also need an environmental management system, monitored effluent discharge and energy and water records.
5. Set up traceability. Separate storage for GOTS and conventional stock, lot numbering, labelled work in process, and records that reconcile input to output for any lot.
6. The audit. One to three days on site covering records, floor, storage, chemical store, effluent, worker interviews and sampling for residue testing. Non-conformities are closed with evidence, usually in 30 to 90 days.
7. The scope certificate. Valid one year, published on the GOTS public database where your buyer will look it up. Re-audit annually.

Transaction certificates and held payments

A scope certificate proves you are allowed to make GOTS goods. A transaction certificate (TC) proves that a specific shipment is GOTS goods. Your certification body issues it after checking the invoices, packing list and input documents for that consignment, tracing back to the TC you received from your own supplier. TCs form an unbroken chain from ginner to exporter.

• The TC is issued after shipment, typically two to four weeks later. Buyers routinely make it a condition of final payment or a required document under the credit, so agree the timing in the contract — see our guide to the letter of credit.
• You cannot obtain a TC for goods you never received an incoming TC for. If your supplier's TC is delayed, yours is blocked.
• Several shipments to one buyer can be combined on a single TC. Many bodies include the first ten TCs a year and charge around USD 20 each thereafter.
• Quantity, article and buyer must match the invoice and packing list exactly. Mismatches against your HS classification or shipping documents cause bank rejections.

OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 by product class

Limits get stricter the closer the product sits to skin. Class I covers articles for babies and children up to 36 months. Class II covers direct skin contact — shirts, underwear, bed linen, mattresses. Class III covers limited skin contact such as linings and fillings. Class IV covers decoration: table linen, curtains, upholstery, wall and floor coverings.

Certificates run one year. The criteria catalogue is updated annually around March with a transition period before new limits bind — Edition 01.2026 requirements carry an implementation deadline of 01-06-2027. Most European bed and bath buyers ask for Class II; curtain and upholstery buyers accept Class IV.

The key difference from GOTS: STANDARD 100 says nothing about organic fibre, wastewater or labour. It is a chemical-safety statement about tested articles. GOTS certification does not make a product OEKO-TEX certified or the reverse, which is why many Indian exporters hold both. Note also that REACH compliance is a legal obligation in the EU, not a voluntary certification, and neither certificate substitutes for it.

Timeline and cost reality

For a single-site maker-up with no existing certification: two to four weeks to select a body and get a quotation, four to eight weeks to fix chemical inputs, subcontractor agreements and HR records, two to four weeks to schedule the audit, four to eight weeks to close non-conformities and receive the certificate. Four to six months from decision to scope certificate is normal. Budget USD 2,500–6,000 (about INR 2.2–5.3 lakh) for GOTS in year one, plus EUR 500–1,500 if you also need STANDARD 100. Renewal years cost less, but the annual audit never goes away. Get the basics in place first — see IEC registration.

The GOTS 8.0 transition

GOTS 8.0 was released in 2026 and becomes mandatory for all audits from 01-03-2027. Until then you are audited against 7.0, though early adoption is permitted and several bodies already offer it. The additions: OECD-aligned mandatory due diligence, formal ESG and anti-corruption governance, stricter PFAS limits, a manufacturing restricted substances list, endocrine-disruptor assessment aligned with EU law, stronger GMO verification for cotton, packaging criteria, microfibre controls, waste-hierarchy rules and worker protection against extreme heat.

Before your next audit: write a due-diligence policy with a named owner, collect fresh LoAs with diarised expiry dates, obtain GMO declarations from fibre suppliers, document packaging content, and record heat-stress measures on the floor.

What you may and may not claim

Directive (EU) 2024/825 applies from 27-09-2026 and governs labels, hangtags, websites and catalogues for goods sold into the EU. Three practices become prohibited:

• Self-made sustainability labels — a green leaf, an "eco" roundel or an in-house "conscious" mark, unless it comes from a third-party verified certification scheme or a public authority.
• Generic environmental claims — "eco-friendly", "green", "climate neutral", "natural", "biodegradable" — without demonstrated recognised excellent environmental performance.
• Whole-product claims based on one aspect — calling a bedsheet set "sustainable" because the cotton is organic while packaging, dyes and trims are not.

What stays safe is specific, verifiable and attributed: "Made with GOTS certified organic cotton, certified by [body], licence number [x]". Respect the label grades exactly — "organic" requires minimum 95% certified organic fibre and "made with organic" covers 70% to 95%. Below 70% no GOTS product claim is permitted at all. GRS likewise allows a consumer-facing recycled claim only at 50% or more, though certification starts at 20%.

Practically: issue the certificate and licence numbers with the exact permitted wording on every order, and do not let a merchandiser improvise label copy. If a buyer asks for a claim your certificate does not support, refuse in writing. Liability sits with the EU trader, but a rejected shipment lands on you.

Where OZIANT and ZJELL fit

OZIANT is a B2B cross-border marketplace connecting overseas buyers to Indian suppliers, and buyers on the platform routinely filter for valid GOTS and OEKO-TEX scope certificates before enquiring. ZJELL Limited, the group's export consulting arm, handles registrations and compliance filings, including certification-body selection, audit preparation and transaction certificate documentation. If you are planning a first GOTS audit or a Version 8.0 transition, contact the team.