The OEKO-TEX® Association is again making every effort to provide support in the areas of consumer protection and sustainability along the textile value creation chain in 2018. The modifications of the existing guidelines in the OEKO-TEX® product portfolio have now finally come into effect on 01 April 2018 following a three-month transition period and are valid for all certification systems and other services.
The updating of the OEKO-TEX® standards and guidelines is based on a continual exchange of experiences with stakeholders from the industry, cooperation with initiatives and the monitoring of statutory regulations. The work by the OEKO-TEX® expert groups takes into account on-going scientific innovations and findings as well as current market developments.
The most important changes are listed below with reference to some of the individual OEKO-TEX® products:
STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®
Textiles made of organic cotton or with organic cotton parts must undergo an additional laboratory test for genetically modified organisms (GMO) if the applicant company intends to recognise its articles with corresponding quality designations such as ?Organic? or ?Bio? on the STANDARD 100 certificate. The laboratory test proves whether or not genetic engineering has been applied to the cotton materials used. Organic marks and certificates currently available on the market do exclude the use of genetic engineering, however they do not require any obligatory laboratory tests or only require random tests on the cotton seed as proof of this. The molecular biology laboratory test that has been specifically optimised for textiles will provide certainty for product suppliers and consumers in the future within the framework of product certification in accordance with STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®. An overview with all additional new regulations in the STANDARD 100 product certification is available from www.oeko-tex.com/std100-updates-2018
STeP by OEKO-TEX®
The scope of the STeP assessment for collecting the required company data has been significantly reduced by condensing the question catalogue. With the integration of DETOX TO ZERO, the STeP certificate and status report can now be issued with additional information on DETOX TO ZERO.