No. The O EKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 & LEATHER STANDARD audits will be carried out within the framework of the STeP audits.

OEKO-TEX® recognises that chemical recipes including bills of substances (BoS) are highly valued, proprietary information. However, OEKO-TEX® requires the publication of all constituent substances and known contaminants / by-products that are regulated by OEKO-TEX® or that are classified as hazardous in accordance with GHS or article 57 of the REACH regulation 1907/2006. By declaring all constituent substances and contaminants, the testing effort is reduced as are the costs for the Analytical Verification of the certification process. The information a chemical producer provides is encrypted and stored by the certifying institute and OEKO-TEX®.

The certification of a chemical with OEKO-TEX® ECO PASSPORT or an entry by ACP in the ACP-List of OEKO-TEX® gives the right to refer to OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 or other OEKO-TEX® standards where applicable. Without this certification or listing, OEKO-TEX® has no possibility to verify the suitability of this chemical for the use in mentioned context. In such cases, OEKO-TEX® marks are prohibited to be used in any form in direct relation to specific products by the chemical manufacturer or seller. If a chemical manufacturer or seller, however, chooses to refer to OEKO-TEX® standards via a text reference, it is considered as a mere self-declaration by the chemical manufacturer or seller. The chemical manufacturer or seller shall highlight any “self-declarations” regarding the suitability to OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 as an “unverified self-declaration”. Under no circumstances shall such claims be perceived as having been made in the name of or on behalf of OEKO-TEX®. OEKO-TEX® does not accept any liability whatsoever in such cases and any such claim shall not use the OEKO-TEX® trademarks.

OEKO-TEX® ORGANIC COTTON allows us to create a system which focuses on raw material inputs and establishes a chain of custody structure. If OEKO-TEX® ECO PASSPORT certified chemicals are used, the test effort and therefore the costs can be reduced. In addition, ORGANIC COTTON creates the basis for MADE IN GREEN, by certifying the relevant facilities according to STeP, also sustainability and social criteria are covered, and it enables supply chain transparency for end consumers.

The OEKO-TEX® ORGANIC COTTON certification starts at the farm, where the cotton is certified as organic according to one of the IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements) family of standards. The organic cotton is then tracked throughout the supply chain via a OEKO-TEX® chain-of-custody until the ready-made textile article. Additionally, by testing for GMO which are widely used in conventional agriculture and testing for pesticides we ensure that the cotton coming from the farm is organic.

The “under review” status means that the certificate is in the renewal process and samples will be reviewed and tested for the next one-year term. OEKO-TEX® certificates are valid for one year. Articles and materials covered by the certificate are then tested again in one of our independent partner laboratories under consideration of the latest criteria catalogue.

The limit values of the OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 and OEKO-TEX® LEATHER STANDARD are compliant with the relevant entries of appendix XVII and appendix XIV of the Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) . All substances with textile and leather relevance from European Chemical Agency’s candidate list of substances of very high concern (SVHC) are covered by the STANDARD 100 and OEKO-TEX® LEATHER STANDARD and are thus ensuring that no communication duties are necessary along the supply chain regarding the SVHC substances. However, for some rare examples where SVHC substances are present and cannot be avoided due to technical limitations this is clearly stated in the scope of the certificate and is thus supporting the mandatory communication. Compliance is also insured with the regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European parliament and of the council of 20 June 2019 on persistent organic pollutants (POPs regulation) . The OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 has comparable product classes and is compliant with all limit values from the GB 18401. However, the GB 18401 contains also labelling requirements, which are not part of the OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 criteria catalogue. Moreover, all OEKO-TEX® partner textile laboratories are CPSC (Consumer Product and Safety Commission of the United States) accredited and therefore a laboratory report for OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 product class 1 articles serves as evidence of compliance regarding the total lead content (CPSIA; with the exception of accessories made from glass) in children's products. Lastly, the OEKO-TEX® team is regularly monitoring the AFIRM (Apparel and Footwear International RSL (Restricted substance list) Management Group), the ZDHC (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals) list, as well as other relevant legal regulations and stakeholder MRSL/RSL lists.