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Soaring costs impacting organic cotton

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Cotonea partner cooperatives have dropped organic certification as tighter EU and certifier rules push smallholder certification costs up 

African organic cotton farmer
It's claimed the system generally works only for large agro-industrial operations. ©Cotonea / Klaus Mellenthin.

BEMPFLINGEN – Two long-standing cooperatives in Kyrgyzstan and Uganda supplying German organic textile brand Cotonea have dropped their Global Organic Textile Standard certification as tighter rules drive up costs for smallholders.

Roland Stelzer, managing director of parent company Gebr. Elmer & Zweifel and founder of Cotonea, described the changes as “well-intentioned, but not thoroughly thought through”.

 

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