Farm-level cotton production standards have been tightened around regenerative agriculture as BCI published Principles and Criteria v.3.2, strengthening requirements for continuous improvement and the adoption of regenerative practices across diverse growing contexts. The revision, approved by the BCI Council in December 2025 and effective from 1 April 2026, marks a further step in BCI's transition towards operating as a fully regenerative standards system.
- Targeted amendments to selected indicators and guidance have been introduced to enhance clarity, feasibility and auditability without altering the overall structure, intended outcomes or scope of the standard.
- Regenerative outcomes addressed in the revision include restoring soil health, advancing water use efficiency, enhancing biodiversity, increasing carbon storage and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
- Stakeholder consultation activities ran from June to October 2025, engaging approximately 100 stakeholders who submitted around 150 comments across internal, public and partner consultation stages.
- The updated standard is documented in Principles and Criteria v.3.2, accompanied by a Summary of Stakeholder Consultations and updated Global Reference Documents, published by the Better Cotton Initiative.
WHAT CHANGED: Cotton's updated farm-level standard—a critical component of the BCI Standard System (BCISS)—entered force as BCI completed a Partial Substantive Revision under the BCI Standard Setting and Revision Procedure v2.2, with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Sustainability Systems used as a reference framework. The revision process launched in June 2025, with the BCI Standards Team leading the work through to final Council approval.
- As a Partial Substantive Revision, the update targets selected indicators and related guidance, stopping short of any change to the standard's normative framework or broader scope.
- Technical input and validation from relevant teams across the organisation were incorporated throughout the revision process before the standard was finalised.
- The release is accompanied by updated Global Reference Documents, including Farm Data Requirements, a Land Conversion Assessment Procedure, HHP Lists covering prohibited substances, CMR and environmental hazard classifications, and an HHP Exceptional Use Process.
- The accompanying reference documents support implementation of the updated standard as normative documents, and the Summary of Stakeholder Consultations provides transparency on the revision process and BCI's response to feedback received.
THE APPROACH: BCI's regenerative agriculture approach centres on the principle that farming should give back to nature rather than take from it, reflecting the organisation's mission to help cotton farming communities survive and thrive while protecting and restoring the environment. A third-party assessment of BCI's field-level standard against other regenerative standard systems preceded the strengthened approach adopted in the revision.
- The standard maintains key regenerative agriculture practices relevant across cotton-producing contexts, while strengthening the requirement for continuous improvement and adoption of regenerative practices over time.
- BCI maintained that improvements to the environmental aspects of cotton farming would only succeed if accompanied by parallel improvements to the social and economic conditions of cotton-growing communities.
- BCI's approach also reflects a core belief that environmental progress in cotton farming depends equally on improving the social and economic conditions of cotton-growing communities.
IN CONTEXT:BCI has periodically reviewed its Principles and Criteria since first publishing the standard in 2010, with each successive revision reflecting evolving sustainability expectations across diverse cotton-producing contexts worldwide. The organisation's ISEAL Code Compliant membership requires independent evaluation against globally recognised standards of good practice, underpinning the credibility and transparency of each revision cycle and the stakeholder processes that accompany it.
- Version history spans v.1.0 in 2010, v.2.0 in 2017 and v.3.0 in 2023, which strengthened environmental and social requirements including gender, livelihoods, decent work and climate action.
- In March 2025, BCI published v.3.1, a non-substantive revision retaining the structure and normative requirements of v.3.0 while introducing clarifications in indicator guidance and minor editorial updates.
- In line with ISEAL requirements, BCI publishes documentation related to standard revisions and stakeholder consultations, ensuring transparency throughout each revision cycle.
- BCI stated that stakeholder input was instrumental in ensuring the strengthened regenerative agriculture approach remains practical, credible and relevant for cotton farming communities around the world.
