SUSTAINABILITY
ICSTS discusses multi-stakeholder sectoral initiatives and responsible sourcing
The two-day International Convention on Sustainable Trade & Standards ( ICSTS ) was jointly organised in Delhi by Quality Council of India and United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards ( UNFSS ). The event , besides debating on key issues on sustainable practices , also witnessed the launch of the UNFSS ’ s 3rd Flagship Report : Voluntary Sustainability Standards ( VSS ), trade and sustainable development , which insisted on the use of ecolabels . There were sessions on various topics covering a wide range of concerns with regard to many industries . From the textile and apparel sector , there were representatives from Ikea , GOTS , Armstrong Spinning Mills , FairTrade Foundation , Textiles Committee and EPCH , to name a few . Interestingly , the session touched many aspects of sustainability and standards regarding Indian apparel industry .
With focus on textile and apparel sector , the event had an exclusive session on ‘ Strengthening multi-stakeholder sectoral initiatives and responsible sourcing decisions in textiles value chains ’ in which speakers from different backgrounds expressed their views . It was interesting , as speakers reaffirmed that not only were the exporters concerned about sustainability , but now even in the Indian domestic market , the consumers are becoming more aware and are asking about sustainable aspects .
Talking in length on the same , Sumit Gupta , Deputy Director , Standards Development & QA , Global Organic Textile Standard ( GOTS ) shared , “ Indian consumers are also coming up with a demand for such certified products . Some of the companies producing for Indian domestic consumption are now adopting certifications which were earlier mainly required from an export perspective only .” He further added that GOTS is a truly multi-stakeholder standard as it is associated with nearly 40 international organisations that contribute to the development and revision of the standard ( GOTS ).
GOTS acknowledges the work done by other standards . Available audit reports from accepted standards are considered during GOTS audits . In India , out of the total nearly 1800 GOTS-certified facilities , a majority of them are MSME .
Various speakers were of the opinion that capacity building is very much required for MSMEs regarding sustainable initiatives as MSMEs are the backbone of the textile and apparel sector . TK Rout , Deputy Director , Market Research , Textiles Committee insisted that the MSME sector ’ s growth should not be hampered only due to lack of
( L-R ) – TK Rout , Deputy Director , Market Research , Textiles Committee ; Subindu Garkhel , Cotton and Textiles Lead , Fair Trade Foundation ; Sumit Gupta , Deputy Director , Standards Development & QA , GOTS ; Rene Van Berkel , UNIDO Representative India ; Sanjeevan Bajaj , Advisor , FICCI ; Sarath Chandran Director RSJ Inspection Service ; and Charan Singh , VP and Regional Director – Softlines , TÜV Rheinland
resources and missing know-how . “ Cost of compliance is somewhere around 6 to 7 per cent of the turnover of a company which is quite high , so capacity building is a collective responsibility ,” he said and explained how the efforts of the Textiles Committee is towards improving not only the quality of Indian products but also adopting sustainable approach to manufacturing . “ Cotton contamination is still an issue for India and Textiles Committee is associated with a good number of Ginning and Pressing units , to improve the overall condition of cotton by star rating system ,” he added .
Subindu Garkhel , Cotton and Textiles Lead , Fair Trade Foundation , highlighted that cotton
14 Apparel Online India | OCTOBER 1-15 , 2018 | www . apparelresources . com