Textile Exchange has begun work on a Responsible Alpaca Standard. The draft Responsible Alpaca Standard is aligned with the organization’s existing Responsible Wool Standard and Responsible Mohair Standard. It is structured around the Textile Exchange Animal Welfare Framework that sets principles and expectations that guide and connect Textile Exchange’s Animal Welfare Standards.

The standard would verify and identify alpaca fiber produced in farming systems that respect animal welfare and the environment. Textile Exchange would apply a “strong assurance system to perform regular audits of the farms and to track the material from the farm to the final product.”

Textile Exchange noted that alpaca farming has high animal welfare potential due to a husbandry system based on extensive grazing and free ranging with animals adapted to their environment. The Responsible Alpaca Standard will be developed to ensure that this high welfare potential is realized and to provide a mechanism to verify that alpaca fiber comes from animals that have been treated responsibly and that land and biodiversity has been managed appropriately.