What are the requirements of a better cotton management system for Better Cotton?

A management system is a set of tools and processes that an organization uses to ensure the achievement of its goals. Through personnel, record keeping, policies and processes, evidence is provided to prove that you are properly managing cotton.

1. Overall requirements

The business owner/management should agree and sign the Better Cotton BCP terms and conditions, indicating a commitment to implementing and maintaining this standard.

Enterprises should implement and maintain a written "management system", which indicates that they have a clear and consistent system to manage better cotton.

Enterprises should have the necessary infrastructure and technical resources to implement standards. For example:

• Infrastructure: such as storage capacity

• Technical resources: The ability to trace better cotton lint to better cotton yarn (such as separation systems, accounting methods)

2. Responsibilities and Authorities

Effective management of cotton requires the support and commitment of business owners and senior management.

This commitment indicates to the following individuals that complying with the requirements of the chain of custody standards is crucial for businesses:

Better cotton Employees implementing the chain of custody

• Customers and customers

You should:

Designate a management representative who is fully responsible for complying with this standard.

Send an email to within 15 days helpdesk@bettercotton.org Timely communicate any changes to the management representative.

Identify and clearly define the responsibilities of key personnel responsible for managing standards at key control points in operations, such as signing, warehousing, processing, and sales.

3. Training

You should develop a comprehensive and comprehensive training plan for employees responsible for maintaining chain of custody standards.

The training frequency should be clearly defined in the plan, and an attendance tracking mechanism should be established.

Special training should be provided for the following specific positions:

Staff responsible for recording weight and quantity

Staff responsible for unloading, storage, and marking

Staff responsible for managing production processes

Staff from procurement, sales, and finance departments

Attention: All employees responsible for operating the Better Cotton Platform (BCP) should complete BCP operation training.

4. Preservation of Records

Records can be in paper or electronic format. Enterprises should maintain accurate, complete, up-to-date, and easily accessible records that cover all aspects of this standard. All applicable records must be retained for at least two years.

Example of record types that should be saved:

Purchase orders

Finished products and inventory records

• Receiving records

Sales and shipping records

• Certificate of Origin

Inventory accounting records

• Invoices

Production records

• Raw material inventory records

5. Complaints

Reason for complaint:

• Insufficient or incorrect files

Better cotton product labeling error

The information in BCP transaction records is different from the physical product information received

• Mismatch between shipment quantity and relevant documents

The complaint resolution process established by your company should include the following:

Provide customers with a clear and convenient complaint channel (such as phone, email)

• Clearly define the time frame for responding to complaints

Procedure for investigating complaints

A consistent and continuous tool for tracking and recording complaints (such as Excel sheets)

6. Control of Non compliant Products

Good cotton should not be accepted until it can be verified that it is in good condition.

Examples of non compliant products:

Inconsistent products and documents, such as the quantity recorded on the document not matching what you received

The better cotton label is damaged, such as the inability to determine which supplier a batch of yarn comes from

Resolve any situation where the condition of good cotton is unclear.

• Check files

Communicate with suppliers and relevant employees

You should separate non compliant products into separately labeled storage areas.

If it is not possible to verify a better source of cotton - consider it as traditional cotton

If non compliant products cannot be separated - consider traditional cotton

7. Outsourcing

Before carrying out any outsourcing activities, spinning enterprises should notify good cotton and provide details of the main activities of subcontracting.

Enterprises should keep the latest list of all subcontractors, including:

• Name, address, and contact information of each subcontractor

Specific outsourced activities, such as storage

• Frequency of outsourcing activities

Attention: Enterprises should maintain legal ownership of goods, provide sufficient information and training to subcontractors, sign agreements with each subcontractor, and subcontractors cannot log in to the enterprise's BCP account.

8. Annual review

Self evaluation - Evaluate the performance of a company based on supply chain regulatory standards.

In the first year of following the regulatory chain standards, you do not need to complete a self-assessment. Better Cotton will provide a template every 12 months for you to complete the self-assessment.

Annual Management Review - Ensure management participation in the implementation of regulatory chain standards.

You should keep records of the annual management review (such as meeting details, agenda, attendees, actions).

At least the following aspects should be checked during the review:

Review the actions taken since the last management review meeting to maintain continuous improvement

Review the results of self-assessment, internal investigation, and external evaluation to gain a comprehensive understanding of the company's compliance with this standard

• Review feedback and complaints from relevant parties regarding the implementation of this standard, as well as the handling results of these complaints

Evaluate the preventive and corrective measures taken to ensure that the problem is effectively resolved

• Discuss any internal changes that may affect the implementation of chain of custody standards

Collect improvement suggestions for the management system and related processes to enhance your company's compliance with standards