Cir(073)/2023                                                                 30^th May 2023

Committee:

 

Sub: Request for your participation in the General Certificate of Conformity (GCC) Programme – reg.

Dear Sirs/Madam,

We are pleased to inform you that The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) has tied up with Control Union Certifications India Pvt. Ltd. one of India’s leading certification agencies to deliver Blockchain based General Certificate of Conformity (GCC) for Indian Farm Cotton across the value chain.

GCC Programme is need of the hour in light of the recent developments regarding traceability in the supply chain and the long-term impact of ensuring a consistent and reliable process of tracing and certification for the exports of Indian Farm Cotton based textile products.

Objective: The GCC program sets out the following objectives and also aims take a proactive step towards validating Indian origin Farm cotton, considering that from June 2022, US based brands need to demonstrate mechanism for traceability up to farm level and validate country of origin.

 

• Provide a platform to Indian Manufacturers, Traders & Exporters to ensure adherence to expected global standards of cotton tracing & certification.
• Ensure the integrity of Indian Farm Cotton based textile products in the global supply chain and provide credible assurance to retailers, importers, brands and other end users.
• Complement existing traceability systems by developing a custom-built innovative (blockchain based) digital traceability to ensure transparency from raw material to retailer/brand in real time (provided in Annex I).
• Create a simple, quick and easy to implement certification system that is scalable and acceptable to the Indian exporters at reasonable costs.

 

Process Flow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GCC is a platform for Indian Farm Cotton to ensure traceability of Indian Origin Fibre in Finished Products and is capable of providing Farm level Traceability to Buyers/Retailers through Transaction certificates, backed by QR code-based software module for complete supply chain traceability using Blockchain technology.

 

Process flow for on boarding the GCC program

1. Application
   The Company interested to enrol for the GCC program will be required to submit an Application Form. The application will be reviewed by TEXPROCIL along with the certifying body. https://cui.emertech.io/rc-form

1. Contract (Service Agreement)

On approval of the application an offer letter in the form of a contract, on behalf of the Council is sent by the certifying body, which has to be accepted on email by the company.

1. Planning
   On receipt of the acceptance by the client, the audit of the manufacturing unit of the client is planned and scheduled by the certifying body.

1. Onsite Verification

Audit of the manufacturing unit is carried out by the certifying body.  A detailed report of the audit is prepared including non-conformity if any for correction.

1. Registration Certificate (RC)

A Registration certificate is issued based on the audit report within 15 days of the audit.

Transaction Certificate (TC)

In case a transaction certificate is required by a client, the company has to make an application in a prescribed format which will be scrutinized and approved for issuance of a Transaction Application (TC) client within 7 days of the application

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Benefits of the GCC program

• Authentication of origin of Indian Farm Cotton
• Verifiable and Traceable at each stage of the value chain from Ginning
• Certification process as per Globally accepted standards
• Screening and records identification of actual movement of goods

The GCC program will benefit the entire textile value chain from ginners to processors to manufacturers. The program presents an excellent opportunity to your organization to validate the use of farm cotton from India in your manufacturing and thereby establishes your company’s credentials with International Brands, Retailers, Sourcing companies and Importers.

For more information on the GCC program you may please write to gcc.cu@texprocil.org;   gcc@controlunion.com

This is for your information.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

Chandrima Chatterjee

(Secretary General)