In September 2026, Global Standards — the organisation behind GOTS — publicly launched the Global Responsible Textile Standard, or GRTS. It is the most significant change to the voluntary textile standards landscape in years, and it lands squarely on a problem every sourcing team knows: certified organic fibres get a rigorous processing standard, while everything else — bamboo, TENCEL, hemp, recycled synthetics — has historically relied on a patchwork of fibre-level schemes with nothing comparable at the processing stage. This guide explains what GRTS covers, how it differs from GOTS, and what it changes for fibre programmes like bamboo socks and modal blends. We write from the perspective of a GOTS-certified manufacturer running bamboo, hemp, modal and recycled programmes alongside organic cotton.
What GRTS Is
GRTS is a new standard for the processing of textiles made from third-party certified fibres. The fibre itself must arrive certified — to any of a broad list of recognised schemes covering plant, animal, synthetic, man-made cellulosic and recycled fibres — and GRTS then governs what happens next: the spinning, knitting, weaving, dyeing and finishing, under defined environmental and human rights criteria, with physical traceability maintained through every transaction.
If that architecture sounds familiar, it should. GRTS is built on the same system as GOTS: the same chain-of-custody logic, the same style of certification with scope certificates for facilities and transaction certificates for goods movement, the same audit infrastructure and approved certifying bodies. Global Standards describes it as extending the GOTS system to a broader fibre basket — two decades of operating experience applied to fibres that organic certification was never designed to reach.
GOTS vs GRTS: The One Difference That Matters
The distinction is the fibre input. Under GOTS, the textile must be made from certified organic fibre — organic cotton, organic wool. Under GRTS, the textile is made from any third-party certified fibre. Everything downstream follows the same pattern:
- GOTS — organic fibre in, restricted chemical inputs, environmental and social criteria, physical traceability, fibre-to-garment integrity.
- GRTS — certified responsible fibre in (plant, animal, synthetic, man-made cellulosic, recycled), the same categories of processing criteria, the same physical traceability.
GRTS does not replace GOTS. The two operate side by side: an organic cotton programme stays GOTS; a bamboo viscose or recycled polyester programme now has a GOTS-equivalent home. For factories already certified under the GOTS system, the audit mechanics, document flows and certifier relationships are the same machinery they already run — which is precisely why adoption among GOTS-certified manufacturers is expected to move quickly.
Why This Matters for Fibre Programmes Like Bamboo, Modal and Hemp
The gap GRTS fills is easiest to see in socks and hosiery, because socks are blend-heavy by nature. A typical bamboo crew is 75% bamboo viscose, 20% recycled nylon, 5% elastane. A modal everyday sock mixes modal with recycled polyester for durability. Even hemp socks — a fibre with genuine low-input credentials — are almost always knitted as a hemp/organic cotton blend for wearability. Under the old landscape, the organic cotton portion of that hemp blend could be GOTS-certified, the recycled nylon could be GRS-certified, but there was no processing standard covering the whole garment with GOTS-level rigour.
That forced sourcing teams into one of two awkward positions: assemble a claims story from multiple fibre-level certificates with no unified chain of custody, or quietly drop the traceability language from the marketing. GRTS resolves this. One standard, one audit trail, one set of documentation covering the blend end to end.
What Sourcing Teams Should Do Now
1. Re-examine your fibre map. List every programme in your range built on certified non-organic fibres — bamboo, TENCEL, modal, recycled polyester, responsible wool — and flag which ones currently lack a processing-level standard. These are your GRTS candidates.
2. Ask your manufacturers about their position. The factories best placed to move early are those already inside the Global Standards system — GOTS-certified operations with existing certifier relationships. As a GOTS-certified manufacturer ourselves, we are following the GRTS certification pathway closely for our bamboo, modal/TENCEL and hemp programmes, and we expect buyer questions on this to multiply over the next two quarters.
3. Watch the claims rules, not just the certificate. Global Standards has simultaneously published new labelling and claims guidance aligned with the EU's Empowering Consumers Directive. Whether your programme ends up GOTS or GRTS, the wording on hangtags and web pages is now under tighter discipline — generic "eco" and "sustainable" claims without standard-backed substantiation are the exposed surface. For a comparison of how different textile standards handle claims, see our GOTS vs OEKO-TEX guide.
4. Don't change organic programmes. If a SKU is built on organic cotton or organic wool and GOTS is working, it stays GOTS. GRTS is an expansion of the certified story, not a migration.
The Practical Effect on the Socks We Make
For our own production, the immediate significance of GRTS is narrative coherence rather than process change. Our knitting lines already run diabetic, compression, five-toe and everyday programmes across organic, bamboo, modal, hemp and recycled fibres under the same chemical management and traceability discipline. What the organic programmes could prove with a GOTS certificate, the non-organic programmes could only describe. GRTS gives those fibre stories the same evidentiary footing — and for buyers, that means the responsible-fibre SKU in your range stops being the one with the weakest paperwork.
The standard is young: the permitted fibre list, certification pathway and labelling rules will evolve as the first cohort of certified entities goes through. We will keep this guide updated as the practical details firm up. If you are planning a bamboo, modal or hemp programme and want to talk through certification strategy with a factory that already runs the GOTS system, get in touch.