What to keep on file: documenting a corporate merchandise order

August 7, 2026

Merchandise is bought quickly, often outside the main supplier framework, and by the time somebody asks what was in it, the person who ordered it has moved on. Seven items to collect at order time, so the question can still be answered eighteen months later.

Merchandise is usually a small line in a procurement budget and an awkward one in a sustainability report. It is bought quickly, often outside the main supplier framework, and by the time somebody asks what was in it, the person who ordered it has moved on.

This is a list of what to collect at order time so that the question can be answered eighteen months later. None of it is difficult to obtain. All of it is difficult to reconstruct.

The seven items

Collected at order time, each one takes a minute. Reconstructed afterwards, each one takes a week.
What to collect	Why it matters
Certificate number and issuing body	The only element that permits independent verification
Certificate scope	Determines whether your item is actually covered
Validity dates	Certificates expire, most within one to five years
Country of manufacture	Stated by the supplier, never inferred from the brand
Factory audit scheme and date	Covers working conditions, separate from material
Carbon footprint and its method	A number without a method is not a measurement
The product’s own reference	Links the evidence to the line on the invoice

The certificate number, not the logo

A logo on a product page proves nothing. It is an image. The certificate number is what allows you to check the claim with the organisation that issued it, without relying on the supplier who gave it to you.

Every major standard maintains a way to do this. OEKO-TEX operates Label Check, which accepts a certificate number directly. FSC and GOTS both maintain public certificate databases. Textile Exchange standards are verified through the issuing certification body.

OEKO-TEX is explicit that the label alone is insufficient. Its buyer guidance (new tab) instructs purchasers to insist on the valid certificate itself, and to check that the test number and institute shown on the label correspond to those on the certificate. Products not listed on the certificate may not carry the label at all.

Scope, which is where most files fail

A certificate confirms that a company holds a valid credential. It does not confirm that your specific order falls within what that credential covers. These are two separate checks, and the second one is skipped far more often than the first.

The distinction is well described in guidance on running registry checks for FSC and PEFC certificates (new tab): a registry lookup answers whether a company holds a valid credential, not whether a given order is covered by it. The comparison used there is a driving licence. Holding one is not the same as being authorised to drive the particular vehicle in question.

There is a related trap. If the entity named on the certificate is not the entity issuing your invoice, the trading company needs its own chain of custody certificate to pass the claim forward. This is a standard requirement under FSC’s chain of custody standard (new tab), and the equivalent principle applies across the other schemes.

What to check on the certificate itself: the product or material category, the grade or percentage, the site, and the legal entity name.

Validity dates

Certificates expire, and the expiry is rarely aligned with your order.

OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 certificates run for one year. GOTS and Textile Exchange certificates run to their own cycles. A certificate that was valid when a catalogue was printed may have lapsed by the date on your invoice, and the label on the product will look exactly the same either way.

Record the validity period alongside the number. If the order spans a renewal date, ask which certificate covers the goods delivered.

Grade and percentage, in the buyer’s own words

Where a standard has grades, the grade belongs in the file rather than the standard’s name alone.

GOTS is the clearest case. Its label grades documentation (new tab) sets a minimum of 95% certified organic fibre for the grade “organic”, and at least 70% for “made with organic materials”. Both are genuine GOTS certifications. They are not the same claim, and an auditor will treat them differently.

The same applies to recycled content. Textile Exchange (new tab) distinguishes GRS from RCS by a higher minimum recycled content percentage and by additional social and environmental processing requirements. Writing “recycled certified” in your file loses precisely the information you will later be asked for.

Country of manufacture

Ask for it. Do not infer it from the brand name, the design language or the address on the invoice.

This is the least contested item on the list and the one most often left blank, because it feels like something that can be established later. It cannot. A country of origin is attested by the supplier or it is a guess.

The factory audit, kept separate from the material

BSCI and SMETA audits cover working conditions at a production site. They are separate evidence from any material certification, and they answer a different question.

Record the scheme, the site and the audit date. An audit from three years ago is not the same evidence as one from last quarter, and the date is the part that gets dropped.

Worth stating plainly for anyone assembling a file for the first time: an audited factory can manufacture an uncertified product. The two pieces of evidence do not substitute for one another in either direction.

The carbon figure and its method

If a supplier publishes a carbon footprint for a product, record the method alongside the number. If there is no life cycle analysis behind it, treat the figure as an estimate rather than a measurement.

A footprint calculated from a product’s weight and its material composition is a modelled approximation. It may be a reasonable one. It is not a measurement, and presenting it as one in a sustainability report creates exposure that the original number never justified.

Where no footprint exists, the honest entry in the file is that none exists. That is a defensible position. An invented figure is not.

An upcoming change worth noting in your policy

If your supplier requirements name GRS or RCS specifically, they will need updating within the next eighteen months.

Textile Exchange (new tab) released the criteria for its Materials Matter Standard on 12 December 2025. It becomes effective on 31 December 2026 and mandatory on 31 December 2027, after which certificates under the existing standards will no longer be renewed. The transition policy (new tab) sets out the full sequence.

Existing certificates remain valid through the transition. The issue is procedural rather than substantive: a policy document that specifies a standard by name will eventually specify one that is no longer being issued.

The question that tells you the most

Ask a supplier for this documentation before you order, and note how long it takes to arrive.

A supplier who sends certificate numbers the same day already had them, which means the evidence existed before you asked. A supplier who takes three weeks is assembling something, and what is being assembled may be perfectly genuine, but it was not on file.

That single observation tells you more about a supply chain than any answer to a questionnaire, and it costs one email to obtain.

Why we publish this

Sustainity supplies corporate merchandise and publishes what each item can prove, including the products that prove nothing. Every item on this list is something we are asked for, and publishing the list makes us easier to check, which is the point.

Our catalogue figures, including the products that carry no certification at all, are published on our commitments page and recalculated as the catalogue changes.

Frequently asked questions

What documentation should I keep for a merchandise order?

The certificate number and issuing body, the certificate scope, its validity dates, the country of manufacture, any factory audit scheme and date, any carbon footprint with its method, and the product reference linking the evidence to the invoice line.

Is a certification logo enough proof?

No. A logo cannot be verified. A certificate number can be checked with the issuing body, independently of the supplier who supplied it.

How do I verify a GOTS or OEKO-TEX certificate?

Both operate public verification tools. OEKO-TEX runs Label Check, which accepts a certificate number or a QR code. GOTS maintains a public database of certified entities.

Does a valid certificate mean my order is covered?

Not necessarily. A registry check confirms a company holds a valid certificate. Confirming that your specific product falls within its scope is a separate step requiring the certificate itself.

How long are textile certificates valid?

It varies by scheme. OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 certificates are issued for one year. Other standards run to their own renewal cycles, and the validity period should be recorded with the number.

What if a supplier has no carbon footprint for a product?

Record that none is published. A footprint estimated from weight and material composition is a model rather than a measurement, and should not be presented as one.