On July 12, ABIT, with Sinditextil-SP and the Social Cotton Institute (IAS), launched Cotton’s Social Conformity Seal at the institution’s headquarters. The seal is an initiative by the Mato Grosso Association of Cotton Producers (AMPA) and it has the support of the National Association of Cotton Exporters (ANEA) and the Cotton Crop Support Fund (FACUAL).
It will inform from the buyer to the end user that the product was grown by rural farmers of Mato Grosso who do not use forced labor and do not submit the worker to degrading conditions.
"The seal is an instrument to inform the raw material buyer and the end-user, ensuring that the cotton was produced without the use of child labor, without the use of forced labor and without submitting the worker to degrading and indignant conditions," explains Felix Balaniuc, IAS executive director.
Upon opening the ceremony, ABIT’s director superintendent, Fernando Pimentel said that “although the textile companies are suffering with the exchange issue, these types of actions are what will make Brazil competitive and increase the sector’s ranking, which is the seventh largest textile park in the world today.”
Then, IAS president, Jose Pupin, spoke about pioneerism in agribusiness and the possibility of adapting the seal to be used with other products.
Mato Grosso is the nation’s largest cotton producer and exporter, responsible for 49% of domestic production. The 2004/2005 harvest gathered6,390 tons of cotton feather in 425,000 hectares of planted area.
The 2006/2007 harvest, despite the depreciation in the dollar, saw a 30% expansion in planted area, reaching 550,000 hectares. At present, the cotton crop offers nearly 55 thousand direct and 110 thousand indirect jobs.
It will inform from the buyer to the end user that the product was grown by rural farmers of Mato Grosso who do not use forced labor and do not submit the worker to degrading conditions.
"The seal is an instrument to inform the raw material buyer and the end-user, ensuring that the cotton was produced without the use of child labor, without the use of forced labor and without submitting the worker to degrading and indignant conditions," explains Felix Balaniuc, IAS executive director.
Upon opening the ceremony, ABIT’s director superintendent, Fernando Pimentel said that “although the textile companies are suffering with the exchange issue, these types of actions are what will make Brazil competitive and increase the sector’s ranking, which is the seventh largest textile park in the world today.”
Then, IAS president, Jose Pupin, spoke about pioneerism in agribusiness and the possibility of adapting the seal to be used with other products.
Mato Grosso is the nation’s largest cotton producer and exporter, responsible for 49% of domestic production. The 2004/2005 harvest gathered6,390 tons of cotton feather in 425,000 hectares of planted area.
The 2006/2007 harvest, despite the depreciation in the dollar, saw a 30% expansion in planted area, reaching 550,000 hectares. At present, the cotton crop offers nearly 55 thousand direct and 110 thousand indirect jobs.
