GOTS India Seminar Strikes Strong Chord On Sustainability

Event & Conferences

GOTS India Seminar Strikes Strong Chord On Sustainability

More than 180 delegates from five countries attended ‘GOTS India Seminar 2018’, organised by Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). The seminar was held in Le Meridien Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India on 29th May 2018.

Seminar brought together all important stakeholders under one roof to discuss efficiency through sustainability. The attendees included international brands and retailers, Indian fashion brands, textile manufacturers, chemical suppliers, testing laboratories, accreditation bodies, academicians, industry organisations, certification bodies, standard bodies, media, service providers, consultants and other important stakeholders from the field of organic textiles and sustainability.

The theme of the seminar was ‘Sustainability as Key to Business Efficiency’. With time, focus on sustainable development has significantly increased both in India and the world. Actively implementing guidelines for protection of environment and people is seen as the instrument to secure the future and reputation of operations in the long run.

Indian companies presented case-studies on how investments in environmental and social compliances have led to increase in savings and therefore led to business efficiency and higher profitability. “It was a very positive gathering and GOTS has done great arrangements at all fronts. I could meet many new friends and I am really happy with the response what I got from the audience at the seminar”, said D. Subaash Kumar, Vice President, Anugraha Fashion Mill Pvt Ltd, Tirupur.

India has made immense progress in terms of processing of organic textiles. As per December 2017 data, out of the 5,024 facilities GOTS certified worldwide, the highest, more than 1,650 are in India. The Indian brand SoulSpace shared their vision of GOTS certified clothing line for Indian consumers as one of the first movers. International brands H&M and Stanley/Stella reconfirmed their commitment to organic textiles as a part of their strategy to achieve higher levels of sustainability in their respective supply chains.

“Indian consumers as well as Indian brands are looking for ecological fashion products, but gaps remain for criteria and communication. GOTS has the potential to fill these gaps by providing uniform criteria for sustainable production and communication in all parts of the supply chain”, said Sumit Gupta, GOTS Representative in India & Bangladesh.

Four sessions of the seminar addressed the various aspects of efficiency in sustainable fashion and textile manufacturing. The sessions included buyers’ perspective, chemical compliance, social responsibility and futuristic certification systems.

“It was my pleasure to participate in the seminar. All stakeholders of the industry were present here. I congratulate GOTS team for the success of GOTS India Seminar 2018”, said Prasad Pant, who is Director - South Asia for Amsterdam based ZDHC Foundation.

Session 4 was a panel discussion on ‘Futuristic Certification Systems for Textile Chemicals’. Several panelists opined that Ecolabels like GOTS add value to product and process for both verification and effective communication. Harmonization of MRSLs as well as Health & Safety of workers at chemical manufacturing facilities was also discussed in the panel.

“It was a wonderful gathering of Indian and international high level experts. We had concrete examples of investments in social and environmental aspects leading to business efficiency and profitability”, said Claudia Kersten, GOTS Managing Director.

“I was very pleased with the response we had from across the supply chain, chemical manufacturers included. The speakers were on-point and the audience interaction was excellent. It all goes to show that GOTS in India has a sustained, growing future", said Rahul Bhajekar, GOTS Managing Director.