Recently, Wujiang Customs learned from the investigation of the impact of technical trade measures that some European large-scale brand enterprises and retail enterprises have screened production enterprises through “STeP certification”, and enterprises that have not passed the certification will not be able to obtain processing orders.

    “STeP Certification” is called “Sustainable Textile Production Certification” and is an independent certification system provided by Oeko-Tex. The International Environmental Textile Association was founded by the German Hohenstein Institute and the Austrian Textile Research Institute. It is now composed of 15 well-known textile appraisal institutions and their representative offices.

    “STeP Certification” covers manufacturers of all stages of textile processing, including fiber production, spinning and weaving, knitting to finishing and garment manufacturing. Certification covers modules such as chemicals management, environmental performance, environmental management, social responsibility, quality management, occupational health and safety. “STeP Certification” transparently and reliably communicates the company's sustainable production conditions, helping brands and retailers operating globally to find suitable suppliers that meet their environmental and social responsibility requirements on a global scale. At the same time, the certification also provides favorable conditions for manufacturers to explore new markets and supplier relationships.

    It is understood that the German Institute of Environmental Textiles, the German Hohenstein Institute, TESTEX Swiss Textile Testing Co., Ltd. has branches in Shanghai or Beijing, and the certification requirements of the corresponding enterprises can be applied and implemented through them.

    The “STeP certification” requirement is relatively high, and it is difficult to authenticate to enterprises with weak management foundation and relatively low environmental friendliness. Under the general trend of transformation and upgrading, quality improvement and efficiency improvement of Wujiang textile industry, it is necessary for the majority of textile production enterprises to pay attention to this certification, continuously improve their management base and environmental friendliness, and truly realize “sustainable textile production”.