“Everyone is looking for business, not integrity.” So says one of our sources within the organic cotton sector – an industry dominated by large platforms, and a place where some experts are afraid to speak out publicly for fear of losing their livelihoods.
Integrity in the Indian organic cotton sector has been a concern for 14 years. We've covered it in depth and were about to do so again before being scooped by a few days by the New York Times in an article that once again stirred the hornet's nest.
Rather than repeating the concerns of the NYT article, this in-depth investigation - which appears in the latest issue of our Ecotextile News magazine - asks who’s to blame for the ongoing problems with organic cotton fraud in the supply chain, and how these problems might be solved? And why some organisations have been dragging their heels for so long?