Fashion brands are facing mounting pressure for transparency and responsibility, from both consumers and regulations. But often, they are lacking the visibility needed to prove compliance.
In the United States Fashion Industry Association’s 2022 Benchmarking survey, 100 percent of the fashion executive respondents said they map their Tier 1 supply chain. However, there is progressively less visibility further upstream in the supply chain, with the least tracking happening around raw material sourcing in Tier 4 (10 percent).
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Seeking to help companies make more confident claims, traceability solution FibreTrace and inspection and certification firm SGS are joining together to develop a new “fiber integrity protocol” that encompasses physical product tagging, chain of custody assessments and testing. Designed to support verified, compliant supply chains, the protocol will be available in major fashion production hubs including China, India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey, Japan, South Korea and the United States.
“As transparency accelerates in application across the global textile industry, there is an increasing burden on manufacturers and fiber producers to provide impact data, robust documentation and additional social and environmental compliance,” Shannon Mercer, CEO of FibreTrace, told Sourcing Journal. “The partnership between FibreTrace and SGS Global provides both brands and manufacturers the combined resource and technology solution to ensure precision, validity and on-ground support to streamline and scale the process.”
Per Mercer, the industry is facing a number of challenges in verifying fibers, including counterfeit materials that affect product quality, compliance and claims, and the considerable amounts of data that companies need to manage to meet environmental and trade regulations. “Handling vast amounts of data related to material specifications, test results and compliance documentation can be overwhelming, leading to potential errors and inefficiencies,” she said.
FibreTrace offers two different traceability solutions that run on the same cloud-based platform. The FibreTrace Mapped service provides digital chain of custody via blockchain, centralizing data from each stage along the supply chain. Meanwhile, FibreTrace Verified adds a pigment to the raw fiber that can then be scanned for authentication at subsequent production steps.
In softlines and accessories, SGS offers on-the-ground testing services—such as seeing whether products contain any substances that fall under California’s Prop 65 act—and auditing to ensure that merchandise meets regulatory, market and consumer standards. The company operates 2,650 offices and laboratories around the globe, staffed by 97,000 employees. In addition to auditing, certification and testing, SGS serves as a consultant and offers technical services.
“Both [FibreTrace and SGS] are committed to seeing a reduction in the environmental and social impact of the global textile industry and believe traceability and third-party audit integrity are an essential combination of services that will protect sustainable, responsible and recycled fiber programs and enhance their value to the end consumer,” said Mercer.
As part of its partnership with FibreTrace, SGS will assist brands in the on-site scanning of their marked fibers, and can conduct audits and sampling of fibers using FibreTrace technology. For suppliers, SGS will help them record their compliance accurately in the FibreTrace system. SGS will also verify the compliance of materials such as recycled polyester before the FibreTrace marker is applied.
“This welcome collaboration with FibreTrace marks another step forward to support the global textile industry towards full supply chain traceability,” said Yvonne Tse, vice president, global softlines at SGS. “By embracing new technologies, we are better placed to ease the pathway towards traceability for producers, manufacturers, brands and retailers worldwide.”
