Certification to our standards is carried out by a third party

Textile Exchange is sharing an update on the New Zealand Merino (NZM) investigation into animal welfare concerns that were raised at the end of 2024.

We have been informed by NZM and their certification body that the ZQ and Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) investigation into two farms has been concluded. In February, NZM voluntarily withdrew both of these farms from its ZQ group and the RWS.

As with any investigation, Textile Exchange will ensure that appropriate actions are taken by the responsible parties. In any case where non-conformities are found, the responsible certification body follows up to ensure that necessary corrective actions are carried out by the certified organization. Due to confidentiality requirements within our complaints and due diligence process, we cannot provide additional information about this investigation.

We view the RWS, ZQ and other animal welfare standards as essential tools for driving continuous improvement across the industry. By adopting and promoting standards like RWS, ZQ and other animal welfare standards, we collectively elevate the baseline for animal welfare and have accountability frameworks in place for when this baseline is not met and encourage incremental advancements in practices.

If you have any questions on the ZQ or RWS investigation, please contact NZM or Standards@textileexchange.org directly for more details.

Textile Exchange is sharing an update that Intertek Testing Services NA, Inc. (Intertek)’s accreditation body, ANSI National Accreditation Board, LLC (ANAB), has lifted the suspension of Intertek’s accreditation to all Textile Exchange standards effective February 12, 2025.

Therefore, as of February 12, 2025, Intertek may resume all certification activities related to Textile Exchange in all countries. This includes (but not limited to) issuing transaction certificates for certified products shipped while the suspension was in place.

Textile Exchange has provided guidance to certification bodies regarding the issuance of transaction certificates, including for certified organizations who have transferred to another certification body (please see ASR-104 Policy for Transaction Certificates, section A8.5).

If an organization transferred to a new certification body during Intertek’s suspension, the succeeding certification body may issue transaction certificates for shipments certified under Intertek, provided all conditions outlined in ASR-104-v3.1 Policy for Transaction Certificates, Section A8.5 are met. For more details, please contact your certification body. Transaction certificates previously issued by Intertek are still considered valid – unless otherwise notified by Intertek or Textile Exchange. To authenticate a transaction certificate issued by Intertek, please see the Textile Exchange transaction certificate portal.

If you are a certified client of Intertek, please contact them directly for more details regarding how the lifting of this suspension may impact the certification services you receive. Contact information of licensed certification bodies is available below.

Please see our initial statement for more information.

SCS Global Services (SCS) has chosen to voluntarily withdraw from Textile Exchange Responsible Animal Fiber standards (RAF) effective March 21, 2025. Please note that this affects farm certifications for the RAF standards only and no other scopes are affected (i.e. RAF supply chain certifications and other standards are not affected).

To maintain certification, SCS’s RAF certified clients must now seek certification services from and transfer their certification services to another accredited certification body no later than October 30, 2025. All RAF scope certificates issued by SCS will be considered withdrawn after that date.

RAF transaction certificates previously issued by SCS are still considered valid – unless otherwise notified by SCS or Textile Exchange.

SCS is permitted to continue to issue RAF transaction certificates for valid scope certificates until October 30, 2025. To authenticate a transaction certificate issued by SCS, please see the Textile Exchange transaction certificate portal.

Please note that SCS will no longer be permitted to issue RAF transaction certificates effective as of October 30, 2025.

If you are a RAF certified client of SCS, you should have received their notification already.

The Procedure for the Withdrawal of Certification Body Licensing (ASR-112) details the requirements for certification bodies in case of withdrawal. We recognize the burden that this creates for the clients of this certification body since they may require another audit and be subject to its additional costs.

While Textile Exchange understands that the change in status of this certification body will impact site certifications, we thank SCS for their support of our RAF standards over the past years and their continuing support of other Textile Exchange standards.