Control Union Certifications was created in 2002 when Control Union acquired the Dutch Skal International, an auditing arm of Stichting Skal. Control Union Certifications has a global presence that spans more than 70 countries in six continents, and maintains more than a dozen accreditations for national and industry programmes.
Late last week, Control Union Certifications India wrote to its clients in India to say it was delisting cotton from its certification programmes, and that they would need to find other certification avenues by 15 May. The following are extracts from a conversation with sources at Control Union Certifications India:
This is most unfortunate: Control Union leaving India. So, what went wrong?
Control Union India has issued a circular delisting risk products such as cotton, sesame, soybean and sugar from field and process certification with regard to country standards. CU India is actively involved in sustainable certification of all textile products, including Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and Textile Exchange (TE) standards. There is no disruption of certification service from Control Union India.
Where has the pressure been coming from? Was it a question of doing too much of a balancing act?
You are right as you said this is a balancing act. Due to the increase in pressure for certification of risk crops in a challenging environment including cotton, it is very much essential to prepare the risk assessment and risk mitigation policies and procedures in order to strengthen the certification integrity and service for our esteemed clients. This enables our strong commitment for the clients, stakeholders, standard owners and buyers to deliver the ethical certification service through continuous improvement.
The recent NYT article seems to have done a lot of damage. But that article itself was allegedly based on a lot of speculation, a considerable amount of kite-flying, and a clutch of half-truths, just as it did also have a lot of facts. Your comments?
In the article, we find our name and that we have not answered them. But, in fact, we could sense that we had not been contacted for comments. Apart from our name, I could not find anything related to us which needs to be clarified.
India is by far the largest producer of organic cotton. If Indian organic cotton plummets into a crisis, who benefits?
Indian cotton has traditional demands in the world market and it will continue to be present in the sustainable market due to its quality, volume and cost. Organic cotton as such will undergo transformation, and the market will be aligned to its own tune to adjust to the situation. I am sure that (going) organic is a very sensible approach and India is still an attractive place for sustainable cotton.
According to the last Textile Exchange report, there are over 160,000 farmers engaged in organic cotton cultivation. But in terms of certifications, what is the number? How does it work in India?
The current number of farmers registered with organic cotton is available in organic TraceNet database of the Government of India [TraceNet is a service offered by the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)]. Every year due to addition and deletion of farmers, there are changes in in-conversion and organic status; so, the number of farmers registered with organic cotton differs.
Within India, there is also a lot of pressure on organic farmers to switch back/over to Bt cotton. Your comments?
As you know that organic cotton is confined to non-GM and no-chemical usage zone; it is for the sustainable sector, while GM crops (Bt cotton) are specific to productivity which is confined to the textile sector with a different approach. The farmers are decisionmakers for their wish to switch over from one system to another system, and that is in line with the business opportunities for their socio-economic benefits.
