The Global Organic Textile Standards (GOTS) has banned five Indian cotton companies for two years after uncovering fraudulent practices in their certification process. GOTS, a German-based organisation responsible for certifying the organic quality of textiles, discovered that these firms used fictitious shipping companies to falsely demonstrate the transit of goods.
Among the banned companies, two are based in Odisha, while the other three operate from Gujarat. Investigations revealed that the Odisha-based companies submitted forged National Organic Program (NOP) transaction certificates with QR codes leading to fake websites, further confirming the fraud.
GOTS highlighted that no actual cotton purchases were made, and no material transfers occurred. It was also revealed that the fraudulent transactions violated GOTS rules, with cotton allegedly transported over 800 kilometres, far exceeding the 500kilometre limit set for organic cotton.
The certification ban prevents these companies from claiming GOTS organic certification for two years. GOTS emphasized that it conducted a thorough investigation before imposing the penalties. The organisation has taken similar actions previously, banning four other Indian companies in September for fraudulent organic cotton activities.
