Textile certifications explained: what each standard actually proves

August 7, 2026

GOTS, OCS, GRS, RCS, FSC, OEKO-TEX, BSCI, AWARE: eight names that land on the same quote and answer eight different questions. What each one attests to, what it does not, and how to check a certificate without going through the supplier who gave it to you.

Eight certifications and audit schemes turn up regularly on corporate merchandise quotes. They are not interchangeable, and they do not answer the same question. Each one attests to a specific thing, on a specific scope, and stops there.

This matters most at the moment somebody asks you for evidence. A supplier who answers a question about recycled content by producing an OEKO-TEX certificate has not answered the question, and a procurement file assembled on that basis will not survive a supplier audit.

Here is what each one covers.

At a glance

Eight schemes, and the question each one answers.
Standard	Owner	Certifies	Does not certify
GOTS	Global Standard gGmbH	Organic fibre content, full supply chain, plus social criteria	Recycled content, carbon footprint
OCS	Textile Exchange	Organic fibre content and chain of custody	Processing conditions, social criteria
GRS	Textile Exchange	Recycled content, plus social, environmental and chemical criteria	Organic content
RCS	Textile Exchange	Recycled content and chain of custody	Processing conditions, social criteria
FSC	Forest Stewardship Council	Forest origin of wood, paper and cork, through chain of custody	Anything about textiles, carbon
OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100	OEKO-TEX Association	Finished product tested for harmful substances	Organic farming, recycled content, labour
BSCI / SMETA	amfori / Sedex	Working conditions at a production site	The material in the product
AWARE	Not a certification	Physical presence of a declared material	Practice, process or conditions

What does GOTS certification actually prove?

GOTS certifies that a textile contains a defined minimum of organic fibre, and that every facility in the supply chain that handled it was independently certified.

The threshold is the part most often misread. GOTS operates through label grades rather than a single standard. According to GOTS’s own labelling documentation (new tab), the grade organic requires a minimum of 95% certified organic fibre, while made with organic materials requires at least 70% and up to 95%. A separate in conversion grade exists for supply chains transitioning to full organic certification.

A product therefore sits in one grade or the other. It is never described as being “70 to 95% organic”, and a supplier who says so has misunderstood the standard they are quoting.

GOTS also goes beyond fibre origin. It sets criteria on chemical inputs, wastewater treatment and working conditions across processing. That is what distinguishes it from OCS, which covers organic fibre content and chain of custody without the processing requirements.

One practical consequence. GOTS applies to natural fibres. A polyester garment cannot be GOTS certified, whatever else it may be.

What is the difference between GRS and RCS?

Both certify recycled content and chain of custody. GRS adds requirements that RCS does not have, and applies a higher content threshold.

Textile Exchange (new tab), which owns both standards, describes GRS as carrying a higher minimum recycled content percentage along with additional social and environmental requirements related to processing and chemical use. RCS, by contrast, sets requirements for third party certification of recycled input and chain of custody, and nothing further.

The percentages are where quotes get vague, and where it is worth being careful about who is being quoted. Textile Exchange, as the owner of both standards, is the authority on them, and it communicates a higher minimum recycled content for GRS than for RCS. Certification bodies publish figures that are not always stated on the same basis, because certifying a product and licensing the logo on it are two different thresholds. We are not going to restate a number here that we have not confirmed with a certifier.

The practical consequence is unchanged, and it is the one that matters: two garments can both hold a valid recycled content certificate and be very different products. The percentage that applies to yours is written on its certificate, not on a website.

Ask which standard, and ask for the percentage. Both are on the certificate.

Are GRS and RCS being replaced?

Yes. Both are being absorbed into a single new framework, and any procurement policy that names them should be updated.

Textile Exchange (new tab) published the final criteria for its Materials Matter Standard on 12 December 2025. The standard 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 sequence in detail, running through to 2029 for the final withdrawal of legacy scope certificates.

The first version of the Materials Matter Standard covers recycled materials currently certified under GRS and RCS, alongside responsible animal fibres. Textile Exchange has indicated that the Organic Content Standard will be brought into the same system through a phased transition.

What this means for a buyer today. A GRS certificate issued now remains valid, and will be honoured through the transition. But a supplier contract or a sustainability policy that specifies “GRS certified” as a fixed requirement will need rewriting within the next eighteen months. Better to write it now than to discover it during an audit.

What does OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 certify?

OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 certifies that a finished textile product has been tested for harmful substances by an independent institute. It says nothing about organic farming, recycled content or working conditions.

This is the most frequently misread certification in corporate merchandise, and the misreading is usually in the buyer’s favour rather than the supplier’s, which is why it persists.

What the standard covers is genuinely substantial. OEKO-TEX (new tab) states that certified items, including every thread, button and accessory, are tested against a list of over 1,000 substances harmful to health and to the environment, with limit values reviewed at least annually. Requirements tighten according to skin contact: product class 1 (new tab), covering articles for babies and children up to three years, carries the strictest limits.

Two details that matter for a procurement file.

Certificates are valid for one year. They are not permanent, and a label printed eighteen months ago may sit on a product whose certificate has lapsed.
The label alone is not proof. OEKO-TEX is explicit on this point in its own guidance for buyers (new tab): a STANDARD 100 label applied to a product is not sufficient evidence of a successful test, and buyers should insist on the valid certificate itself. The test number and institute shown on the label must match those on the certificate, and products not listed on the certificate may not carry the label.

What does FSC cover?

FSC certifies that wood, paper or cork based material originated from a responsibly managed forest, a controlled source or reclaimed material, and that it was tracked through every change of ownership on the way to the finished product.

That tracking is the chain of custody, and it is the part that does the work. FSC-STD-40-004 (new tab), the chain of custody standard, requires that any organisation taking legal ownership of certified material and wishing to pass an FSC claim forward must hold its own certificate, verified by an FSC accredited certification body.

For corporate merchandise this is relevant to notebooks, packaging, gift boxes and cork accessories. It has nothing to say about the garment inside the box, and it measures no carbon.

What do BSCI and SMETA cover?

BSCI and SMETA audit a production site on working conditions. They say nothing about the material in the product.

The distinction is easy to lose because both appear in the same column of a supplier questionnaire, but it has a straightforward practical consequence: an audited factory can and frequently does manufacture uncertified products. A social audit tells you about the people who made the item. A material certification tells you about the item. Most procurement files need both, and confusing one for the other leaves a gap that only becomes visible under scrutiny.

Why AWARE is not on the same list

AWARE is a physical tracer added to fibre. It verifies that a declared material is genuinely present in the product delivered. It is a traceability technology, not a certification.

The distinction matters when a supplier counts it toward a certified share of catalogue. Counting a tracer as a certification raises the headline figure without adding any third party attestation of practice. It is worth checking how any supplier who quotes a percentage has arrived at it.

At Sustainity we do not count AWARE among our certified products. Doing so would raise our own figure, which is exactly why we do not.

How to verify a certificate

Every standard on this page maintains a way of checking a certificate independently of the supplier who gave it to you.

GOTS publishes a public database of certified entities
OEKO-TEX operates Label Check, which accepts a certificate number or a QR code scan
FSC maintains a public certificate database, searchable by certificate code
Textile Exchange standards are verified through the issuing certification body

One caveat that catches people out. A registry search confirms that a company holds a valid certificate. It does not confirm that the specific item on your quote falls within that certificate’s scope. Those are two separate checks, and the second one requires reading the scope on the certificate itself.

The question that settles most of it

If a supplier shows you a label without telling you which of these standards it belongs to, ask. Then ask for the certificate number rather than the logo.

A logo on a product page proves nothing at all. A number can be checked with the body that issued it, without going through the supplier who gave it to you. That difference is the whole of it.

Frequently asked questions

Is OEKO-TEX the same as organic?

No. OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 certifies that a finished product has been tested for harmful substances. Organic fibre content is certified by GOTS or OCS. A product can hold both, or either, and the two attest to different things.

What percentage of organic cotton does GOTS require?

The GOTS label grade “organic” requires a minimum of 95% certified organic fibre. The grade “made with organic materials” requires at least 70% and up to 95%.

Which is stronger, GRS or RCS?

GRS is the more demanding of the two. It carries a higher minimum recycled content threshold and adds social, environmental and chemical processing requirements that RCS does not include.

Does a social audit mean the product is certified?

No. BSCI and SMETA audit the production site and its working conditions. They make no statement about the materials used in any product made there.

How long is an OEKO-TEX certificate valid?

OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 certificates are issued for one year and must be renewed.

Are GRS and RCS being discontinued?

They are being replaced. Textile Exchange’s Materials Matter Standard becomes effective on 31 December 2026 and mandatory on 31 December 2027, after which legacy certificates will not be renewed.