COTTON FRAUD
Global - Top European retailers and brands such as Swedish clothing chain H&M have allegedly been selling certified organic cotton clothing contaminated with genetically modified cottons from India.
The scale of this alleged fraud uncovered by the German edition of the Financial Times newspaper was deemed shocking, and is bound to shake consumer confidence in organic cotton certification.
"Around 30% of the tested samples contained genetically modified (GM) cotton," said Lothar Kruse, director of the independent testing laboratory Impetus in Bremerhaven, who examined the cotton fabrics.
The GM cotton found in the retailers' stock has been traced back to India, which currently supplies almost half of the organic cotton global supply.
Sanjay Dave, head of India's Agricultural and Processed Food Products Development Authority (APEDA) told the newspaper they were dealing with fraud on "a gigantic scale".
The alleged fraud was reportedly discovered back in April 2009 by Indian authorities, and fines were imposed at that time on third part certification agencies such as EcoCert and Control Union.
"We encourage all those sourcing in India to verify all paperwork relating to certification and the supply chain, and to work with trusted supplier and producer groups, of which, in India, there are many well established examples," said Organic Exchange.
Brands involved in the alleged fraud are being criticised for not adequately monitoring their supply chains.
"The fashion chains (H&M and C&A) were not vigilant enough," the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper quoted Monika Buening of the Federal Consumer Affairs Agency as saying.
Both H&M and other brands such as C&A and Tchibo needs to take immediate action to limit the damage, added Buening.
According to Organic Exchange, India produced 61% of the total amount of organic cotton produced in 2008 and 2009, with some 107,000 tonnes of fibre out of the total 175,113 tonnes grown worldwide.
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