Associations and Memberships
Better Cotton Initiative
Better Cotton Initiative is the world’s largest cotton sustainability programme, a non-profit, multi-stakeholder initiative. It grew out of a WWF-led effort in 2005 and today works closely with every part of the fashion and textile supply chain. Its mission is to help cotton communities survive and thrive while protecting and restoring the environment. Through its farmer-centred approach, it trains producers via field-level partners in efficient water use, soil health, reduced use of harmful crop protection and decent work, and it runs this through a holistic standard system. To help make sustainability mainstream in cotton, we are a member of Better Cotton Initiative.
Conficert
Conficert is a non-profit, globally active organization based in Spain and run by accredited certification bodies. It connects producers, certification bodies and consumers through clear quality labels, with the aim of giving consumers direct access to transparent information about certified products and services. To this end, it develops internationally recognized B2C quality brands across all sectors. It safeguards the credibility of the system through an independent oversight program and a transparency portal where certificates can be publicly verified. So that the trust behind our certificates reaches the consumer with full transparency, we are a member of Conficert.
ETO – Ecological Agriculture Organization Association
The Ecological Farming Organization Association (ETO) is an umbrella organization founded in İzmir in 1992 to support the fast and healthy development of ecological (organic, biological) agriculture in Türkiye. It brings together producers, consumers, processors, traders, control and certification body staff, researchers and technical personnel under one roof. It coordinates the work of the people and institutions involved in organic agriculture, cooperates with universities and research institutions, and helps develop the domestic market for organic products. It provides organizational support during control and certification processes and strengthens the field through training, symposia and projects. As a body that certifies organic agriculture, we are a member of ETO in order to contribute to the healthy development of the field.
HIB – Service Exporters Association
The Service Exporters’ Association (HİB) is the umbrella body for Türkiye’s service exporters; it operates within the Türkiye Exporters’ Assembly (TİM) and reports to Türkiye’s Ministry of Trade. It covers exporters in fields such as IT, healthcare, education, tourism, transport and contracting. HİB sets the service export strategy, identifies the sector’s problems and carries them to decision-makers, and develops proposed solutions. For its members, it organizes promotional activities, trade delegations, fair participation and training, and it manages access to state support schemes. As a certification body that exports its services internationally, we are a member of HİB in order to take part in the sector’s joint efforts.
ITO – Istanbul Chamber of Commerce
The İstanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO), founded in 1882, is Türkiye’s largest chamber of commerce and one of the largest in the world, with more than 800,000 members. It handles the issuing of many official documents, from registration to export; it gives its members training and information that build a local-to-global perspective; and it protects their commercial rights and interests. It works to solve the private sector’s structural problems and to open new markets abroad. Its vision is to help Türkiye and its members become a regional power that takes a greater share of international trade. As part of Türkiye’s largest business network, we are a member of the İstanbul Chamber of Commerce.
Izmir Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
The Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in İzmir was founded in 1994 and officially recognized by the Italian government in 1997. As part of the worldwide network of Italian Chambers of Commerce, it operates under the guidance of the relevant Italian ministry. Its aim is to organize activities that strengthen commercial and economic relations and mutual investment between Türkiye and Italy. It offers its members information, training and consultancy services, and supports small and medium-sized enterprises in particular through B2B meetings, trade delegations and fair participation. To strengthen our Türkiye–Italy business ties, we are a member of the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in İzmir.
IZTO – Izmir Chamber of Commerce
The İzmir Chamber of Commerce (İZTO), founded in 1885, is Türkiye’s second chamber of commerce after Istanbul. It handles the registry and membership procedures of İzmir’s businesses and makes its members’ commercial activities easier. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals, it guides its members through their sectoral development and transformation, supporting them with training, sector projects and foreign-trade work. By creating value together with its stakeholders, it works to make İzmir a center of attraction for trade and investment. As part of İzmir’s long-established business community, we are a member of the İzmir Chamber of Commerce.
KSKDER – Association of Agricultural Product Control and Certification Bodies
The Association of Agricultural Product Control and Certification Bodies (KSKDER) was founded in İzmir in 2016 by bodies authorized under Türkiye’s Organic Agriculture and Good Agricultural Practices regulations. It aims to be a reference organization in agricultural product certification and brings control and certification bodies together under one roof. It supports its members’ competence and continuous development through training, guidance and sector updates. It contributes to the development of legislation for sustainable agriculture and works to raise awareness of certified agricultural products. As a body that carries out organic and Good Agricultural Practices certification, we are a member of KSKDER in order to strengthen the field’s credibility through shared work.
RegenEcos – Association for Regenerative Ecosystems
RegenEcos, based in Izmir, is an association established to promote regenerative and circular approaches in the agriculture, food, and textile supply chains. By bringing together experts from the fields of agriculture, engineering, economics, and environmental science, it bridges research with field applications and provides data-driven transformation support to producers, institutions, and brands. As the owner of the Regenevate compliance assessment and certification program, it establishes a traceable and transparent production ecosystem from raw materials to the final product. We are members of this association, which is founded on the One Health principle that addresses human, animal, and environmental health collectively.
SLCP – Social & Labor Convergence Program
SLCP is a non-profit, multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to reduce audit fatigue in global supply chains. Its Converged Assessment Framework (CAF) provides a common data-collection tool and verification methodology that replaces duplicative social compliance audits. A facility completes a single assessment, has it independently verified, and can share the same data with multiple business partners, including brands. This redirects the resources spent on repeated audits toward improving working conditions and gives all parties comparable, reliable data. To bring social-audit data together under one credible framework, we are a signatory of SLCP.
Textile Exchange
Textile Exchange is a global non-profit, founded in 2002, that works closely with every part of the fashion and textile supply chain. To reduce the environmental impact of raw-material production, it develops and manages trusted standards and owns standards such as the Organic Content Standard (OCS), the Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) and the Global Recycled Standard (GRS). Compliance with these standards is verified by approved independent certification bodies, with traceability from raw material to finished product. Textile Exchange’s vision is a fashion and textile industry that gives back more to the planet than it takes, benefiting soil health, water and biodiversity while having a positive effect on the land and the people who sustain it. As a certification body that contributes to the credibility of these standards, we are a member of Textile Exchange.
TİGİAD – Turkish Businessmen Association for Work Safety
Turkish Businessmen Association for Work Safety (TİGİAD) is an İstanbul-based association that brings together the businesspeople and companies active in the occupational health and safety (OHS) sector. It connects different players in the field, from personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturers to training and certification bodies. It carries its members’ concerns to institutions such as the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and TSE, contributes to PPE technical committee work, and organizes sector meetings, symposia and fairs. As a member of the European Safety Federation (ESF), it also links the field to international developments. As a body that provides certification in the OHS field, we are a member of TİGİAD in order to take part in the sector’s joint work.
UDDER – Conformity Assessment Association
The Conformity Assessment Association (UDDER) is an Ankara-based non-governmental organization that brings together the parties active in conformity assessment. Alongside metrology and standardization, conformity assessment is one of the core components of the quality infrastructure; UDDER gathers public and private bodies, testing, inspection, certification and accreditation bodies, higher-education institutions, chambers and consumer organizations under one roof. It supports the development and promotion of conformity assessment in Türkiye and works toward the regional and international recognition of these activities. By ensuring coordination among these parties, it strengthens the field’s shared voice. As a conformity assessment body, we are a member of UDDER in order to contribute to the development of the field.
UK Textiles Pact
UK Textiles Pact (formerly Textiles 2030) is a voluntary initiative run by WRAP (The Waste and Resources Action Programme), a UK environmental NGO, that aims to move the fashion and textiles sector to more sustainable and circular practices by 2030. Against a 2019 baseline, it targets a 50% reduction in the carbon footprint and a 30% reduction in the water footprint of new textile products. It brings brands, retailers and reuse and recycling organizations together under one roof and guides its members through a Target-Measure-Act approach. It works on more durable design, circular business models and recovering materials. To help make circularity in textiles measurable and mainstream, we are a member of the UK Textiles Pact (Textiles 2030).
