Does a certified factory guarantee my order is compliant?
No. A certificate shows that a factory met a standard at the time of its audit, but compliance for your order also depends on what goes into it and where it is made. Materials matter: a GOTS-certified factory can still sew non-certified fabric, so an organic claim needs a transaction certificate for your shipment. Product rules matter: REACH, CPSIA and EN 14682 requirements are tested on your actual garments and trims, and a factory certificate does not cover them. Location matters too: a certificate covers the named site, so production moved to an uncertified unit is not covered. That is why buyers should ask for three things on every order: the certificates and audit reports for the factory producing it, the test reports for the product, and the address of the site where it is made.
What is the difference between a certificate and an audit report?
Certification schemes such as WRAP, GOTS, OEKO-TEX and ISO 9001 issue a certificate when a site or product meets their requirements. The certificate has a number, a scope and an expiry date, and you can usually check it in a public database. Audit programmes such as Sedex SMETA and amfori BSCI work differently. They produce a detailed report listing findings and non-compliances and, for amfori BSCI, a rating from A to E, but no pass-or-fail certificate. The report shows how working conditions actually look, including problems the factory is correcting, which is often more useful than a certificate on its own. When you check a supplier, ask for the full report rather than a summary or a badge, confirm the audit date, and look at whether earlier findings have been closed since the previous audit.
What happened to the Bangladesh Accord and the Alliance?
Both were created in 2013, after the Rana Plaza building collapse. The Accord on Fire and Building Safety was a legally binding agreement between brands, mostly European, and global trade unions. It inspected factories for structural, fire and electrical safety and tracked their repairs. The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety was a similar programme backed mainly by North American brands, and it ran until 2018. In 2020, the Accord’s work inside Bangladesh passed to the RMG Sustainability Council, a national body run jointly by brands, manufacturers and trade unions. In 2021, the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry succeeded the original agreement, and its Bangladesh Safety Agreement is carried out by the council. Export factories outside these programmes are covered by the government’s National Initiative through the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments.
Which certifications do I need for my first order?
Start with where you sell and what your label says. Retailers usually ask for a social compliance audit first: amfori BSCI or Sedex SMETA are common in Europe and the United Kingdom, while WRAP and other scored audits are widely requested in the United States. Product safety comes next. EU and UK buyers expect REACH-compliant materials and often OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100, while kidswear sold in the United States needs CPSIA testing and a Children’s Product Certificate. Claims on the label add requirements, such as GOTS or OCS for organic cotton and GRS or RCS for recycled content, each with transaction certificates. Finally, read your retailer’s supplier manual, because large retailers often add their own standards. Use the table at the top of this page as a starting point, and tell us your market and product before we quote.
Can you arrange a certification the factory does not already hold?
Factory and product certifications cannot be created for a single order. Standards such as GOTS, GRS, OEKO-TEX STeP and WRAP require the factory, and often every processing stage in the supply chain, to be audited and certified, which takes months and depends on the factory’s own management systems. So when your order needs a specific certification, we place it with units that already hold it, and share the certificate before production starts. Product tests are different. Tests for restricted substances, colour fastness, shrinkage, flammability, lead and phthalates can be arranged for any order at accredited laboratories in Bangladesh, including international testing groups with local labs. If your brand plans to require a certification in future seasons, tell us early, because it affects which factories and fabric mills can be considered for your range from the start.
How can I check whether a certificate is genuine?
Most certificates can be checked against a public database in a few minutes. First, compare the company name and site address on the certificate with the factory’s trade licence and your purchase order, because certificates cover a specific legal entity and address. Next, check the dates, since some certificates last only six or twelve months. Then look the certificate up at the source. WRAP publishes its certified facilities, OEKO-TEX offers Label Check using the certificate number, GOTS and Textile Exchange have searchable databases of certified sites, and ISO management system certificates can be checked through IAF CertSearch or the certification body that issued them. For audits such as SMETA, ask the factory to share the report through the Sedex platform. If a number cannot be found, or the details differ, ask for an explanation before you place the order.