OEKO-TEX
MATERIALS
CONFIDENCE HIGH · ANALYSIS ONLY, NOT AN AUDIT OR CERTIFICATION
Our read
OEKO-TEX is four different things sharing a logo family, and the difference matters more than the family resemblance. STANDARD 100 is the one nearly everyone means. It is a chemical residue test on the finished article against limit values set by skin-contact class, backed by an on-site company visit and renewed annually. Within that scope it is credible and specific. Outside it, it says nothing. STANDARD 100 has no labour scope, no wage or hours requirement, no water, land, biodiversity or carbon scope, and it is not a fibre-content claim, so a wholly synthetic garment can carry it. It also tests residues in the article rather than the chemistry discharged during production. STeP is the facility standard covering chemical management, environment, social responsibility and health and safety. MADE IN GREEN is the only mark that ties the two together, requiring both a certified article and STeP-certified finishing. One structural note on independence: the authorised testing institutes are shareholders of OEKO-TEX AG, the scheme owner, and their laboratories are accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 for lab competence rather than ISO/IEC 17065 for certification.
What it covers
- STANDARD 100: laboratory testing of the finished article, including every thread, button and accessory, against a list of over 1,000 regulated harmful substances
- STANDARD 100 product classes I to IV, with stricter limit values the greater the skin contact; Class I is baby and toddler articles
- STANDARD 100 process includes an on-site visit to inspect and evaluate the company, and a certificate issued for one year
- STeP: facility-level certification across six modules, chemical management, environmental performance, environmental management, social responsibility, quality management, and health and safety, with an on-site audit and a three-year certificate
- MADE IN GREEN: a product label requiring STANDARD 100, ORGANIC COTTON or LEATHER STANDARD certification of the article plus STeP certification of the finishing facility and of wet-process component suppliers at 5 percent or more of product weight
- MADE IN GREEN traceability via a unique product ID or QR code that shows production facilities and countries
- ORGANIC COTTON: chain of custody with transaction certificates from farm through production, plus quantitative GMO testing that distinguishes contamination from deliberate mixing with conventional cotton
- a published complaint mechanism tied to a certificate withdrawal process
What it leaves out
Not a criticism of the scheme. A standard is a scope, and this is where this one ends.
- STANDARD 100, which is by far the most common OEKO-TEX mark, has no labour, wage, working hours or freedom of association scope
- STANDARD 100 has no water use, wastewater, land use, biodiversity or carbon scope
- STANDARD 100 tests the finished article for residues; it says nothing about the chemicals used and discharged during production
- STANDARD 100 is not an organic, recycled or natural fibre claim; a fully synthetic article can be certified
- the four OEKO-TEX marks look like one family but certify different things, and only MADE IN GREEN combines product chemistry with facility conditions
- the labs that test are ISO/IEC 17025 accredited for laboratory competence, which is not the same as ISO/IEC 17065 accreditation of the certification decision
- the authorised testing institutes are shareholders of OEKO-TEX AG, the scheme owner, and the applicant selects and pays the institute
- no chain of custody or mass balance question arises for STANDARD 100 because the claim is a test result on the article itself, not a claim about the origin of its material
The scheme
| Issued by | OEKO-TEX Association (International Association for Research and Testing in the Field of Textile and Leather Ecology), Zurich; scheme owned by OEKO-TEX AG |
|---|---|
| Where it applies | Global |
| Audit and renewal | STANDARD 100: certificate issued for one year, renewed annually. STeP: three-year certificate. MADE IN GREEN: dependent on the underlying STANDARD 100 and STeP certificates. |
| Cost | Not published. Costs comprise the testing institute's laboratory and audit fees plus an OEKO-TEX label fee, quoted per applicant. |
What we read
OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100, STeP, MADE IN GREEN and ORGANIC COTTON programme documentation as published on oeko-tex.com, July 2026; OEKO-TEX Complaint Mechanism Edition 01.2025; OEKO-TEX Committee Organisation Overview Edition 01.2026; OEKO-TEX statement on compliance with Directive (EU) 2024/825
- what_it_covers (STANDARD 100 scope and substance list) — Every thread, button and accessory have been tested against a list of over 1,000 harmful substances
- what_it_covers (on-site visit and one-year certificate) — On-site visit: Inspection and evaluation of your company ... Certificate: Issue of certificate for one year
- what_it_covers (STeP six modules and three-year certificate) — Chemical management, Environmental performance, Environmental management, Social responsibility, Quality management, Health & safety
- what_it_covers (MADE IN GREEN prerequisites) — All manufacturing facilities must hold STeP certification, and component suppliers representing 5% or more of product weight from wet/chemical production must also be STeP-certified
- what_it_covers (ORGANIC COTTON GMO testing and transaction certificates) — quantitative GMO test differentiates between contamination and deliberate mixing with conventional cotton
- what_it_omits, independence_score (institutes are shareholders of the scheme owner) — a contractually stipulated separation and limitation of the authority of the shareholders of OEKO-TEX AG
- independence_score (ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation of labs) — All authorised testing institutes/conformity assessment bodies are accredited in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025.
- enforcement_score (complaint mechanism tied to withdrawal) — The complaint mechanism is tied to the OEKO-TEX Certificate Withdrawal Process
- enforcement_score (remediation deadline before withdrawal) — If the violation could not be remedied within the set timeframe, the certificate withdrawal process will be initiated.
- issuer (scheme structure and standard committees) — OEKO-TEX Committee ... STANDARD 100, STeP, MADE IN GREEN, ECO PASSPORT, LEATHER STANDARD, RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS, ORGANIC COTTON
What we could not establish
The full STANDARD 100 normative document (the annexes with limit values) could not be downloaded; the OEKO-TEX download paths for standard texts were not reachable and the search budget was exhausted, so the scope, product classes, testing process and validity are taken from the official programme pages rather than the standard PDF. The specific limit values and the number of substances per class are therefore not stated here. I could not establish what share of certificates are subject to annual random product control testing, which would sharpen the enforcement score, nor locate a published register of withdrawn certificates; enforcement is scored 3 on the basis of a documented, published withdrawal process rather than published outcomes. Rigor is scored 2 because the row is dominated by STANDARD 100, a single-attribute chemical residue test; STeP assessed on its own would score higher, and if the database later separates the marks, STeP and MADE IN GREEN should be re-scored.
Who holds it
Scored companies carrying this mark, highest first. Holding it is not the same as scoring well — the mark is one input of six.
| Company | Scope held | YKO score |
|---|---|---|
| Caboo | Not stated | 17 |
If you hold this certification, it is already on your record. What a buyer cannot see there yet is the evidence behind the parts this standard does not reach.