Whatever the production, moving from conventional to organic involves significant changes in terms of farming practices. As a result, an interim period is required before organic certification can be obtained.
Did you know that:
- The length of this conversion period depends on each country’s organic farming standard as well as the type of crop involved.
- During this period, requirements specified in the organic standard and audits by independent certification bodies apply.
- This stage is not always easy for producers who may observe reduced yields without being able to promote their production as organic (premium not guaranteed, recognition and labelling not systematic, etc.).
And for cotton?
The transition period required is 2 years for the European organic standard and 3 years for the American or Indian standards.
According to Textile Exchange, cotton in transition represented nearly 35,000 tonnes in 2018/19, driven by India and Pakistan, i.e. 15% of the world’s organic cotton.
An encouraging signal!
In Conversion Transitional Cotton – Textile Exchange
In-Conversion/Transitional Cotton At-a-Glance In-Conversion/Transitional Cotton Brands wishing to incorporate organic cotton into their supply chains may find there isn’t enough to meet their needs. Demand for organic cotton has increased dramatically in recent years to the point that, without a pla…
