What is it?
Certification scheme issued or operated by Better Cotton Initiative.
Regulatory recognitionMass-balance caveat essential — certified volume ≠ physical content
Standards & schemes · Certification scheme
Better Cotton (BCI)
Better Cotton Initiative
Which version is current?
Profile version 2. Official information last verified 22 August 2026.
Who and what does it cover?
- Geography
- Global
- Sectors
- Cotton
- Scope
- Farm / mass-balance volume
What does it require?
Farm-level standard and volume-based chain of custody; physical traceability now being phased in alongside mass balance.
What it does not demonstrateThe scheme does not by itself prove that a particular product, site or organisation holds a current certificate; its scope and validity must be checked.
How is conformity assessed?
Second/third-party verification
Grievance mechanismBCI grievance
Who makes the decision?
Better Cotton Initiative
Assurance arrangementSecond/third-party verification
Chain of custody
Mass-balance (physical traceability piloting)
ISEAL membershipISEAL member
Conditional relationships
Claims it may support
A relationship does not mean that the standard proves or validates every use of a claim.
Legal context
Laws referencing it
No reviewed law references are published.
Dictionary
Dictionary concepts
No reviewed dictionary cross-link is published.
Version record
What has changed
- Version 2Initial profile published after recorded site-owner/editor review of the complete standards batch.
- Version 1Initial private editorial draft imported from the reviewed standards handover.
Last verified 22 August 2026. This neutral profile is informational and does not recommend, rank or endorse the standard.