MADRID, 10 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -
Inditex has demanded "transparency" and "traceability" from the textile industry's main cotton certifier Better Cotton, within the framework of a request for information by the NGO Eartsight.
Specifically, the group has demanded in a letter sent to Better Cotton, advanced by Modaes, a plan to "provide maximum visibility to the entire industry on certified practices and make decisive progress in terms of traceability."
Inditex has confirmed to Europa Press the sending of said letter and has demanded that Better Cotton share "as soon as possible the result of the independent investigation that has been carried out and the necessary measures to guarantee a sustainable cotton certification that respects the most High standards".
Inditex's claim has arisen in relation to a report prepared by the NGO Earthsight that denounces "illegal practices" by two Brazilian cotton producers with the Better Cotton standard on farms located in the State of Bahia in Brazil.
The group has considered that the information required "will be key to the assessment of possible limitations to the consideration of the Better Cotton standard in our supply system and, in particular, to the potential implementation of alternative initiatives that lead to greater control of the production conditions of cotton originating in Brazil".
As Inditex explained in its letter, signed by Javier Losada, the group's sustainability director, the demand for information from the cotton certifier occurs after, in August 2023, the NGO Earthsight informed the company about an investigation "in which reported serious practices - including land usurpation, illegal deforestation and violent acts against local communities - by two Brazilian producers of cotton with the Better Cotton standard on farms located in the State of Bahia, Brazil.
"If the veracity of its content is confirmed, the practices denounced in the Earthsight report place the cotton coming from these producers completely outside the standards required by Inditex and expected by its suppliers and customers around the world," added the cluster.
"Your organization informed us of its intention to investigate these events and determine whether there were indeed irregularities in the granting of the aforementioned certifications, as well as to report its conclusions before the end of March 2024," Inditex explains in the letter.
Despite more than six months having passed since the first allegations became known, Better Cotton has announced that it will not provide information on the outcome of this investigation until the publication of the aforementioned report, scheduled for April 11.
Inditex does not buy cotton directly, since the cotton used by its suppliers to make its garments is audited by independent organizations, which certify the good practices used in obtaining this raw material, in line with institutional recommendations and sustainability experts. social and environmental of the textile industry.
