REEL STANDARDS
Raising the Standard for Responsible Cotton
The REEL Standards help brands source certified, traceable cotton that supports farmer livelihoods, protects the environment, and meets the highest sustainability requirements.
REEL Standards system is designed for brands and retailers seeking to source more responsibly produced cotton, traceable from farm to finished product. The agricultural, social and labour practices required by the REEL Standards have been proven to improve farmers’ yields and livelihoods, while reducing negative environmental impacts.
The REEL Cotton Standard and REEL Regenerative Standard were developed from the well-established REEL Cotton Code and REEL Regenerative Code.
The REEL Standards system include enhanced governance and verification methods, and enable certification of producer groups and cotton. Some of the criteria of the REEL Standards have been updated to strengthen and clarify the requirements.
The REEL Standards system includes a robust chain of custody process, monitoring and evaluation, third-party assurance and verification, certification, and claims framework. The criteria of the REEL Standards and its supporting system ensures that the cotton produced meets the current regulatory requirements for responsibly produced cotton.
REEL Standards Governance Body (SGB)
CottonConnect has established a REEL Standards Governance Body (SGB), this independent body will provide oversight and strategic guidance for REEL Standards system. The SGB, chaired by Karin Linser, will also have Damien Sanfilippo and Prakash Menakel Philip as members. All members have been appointed for a period of 2 years.
The SGB will be responsible for guiding and monitoring implementation effectiveness, establishing key operational policies, and ensuring that stakeholder input is integrated for the development, implementation, and revision of the REEL Standards system and its other key components, in order to achieve the objectives of the REEL Programme.
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Karin has more than 25 years of experience in business development, sales and marketing roles in both the public and private sector. She has extensive experience in the sustainability sector, where she has worked for some 9 years for FLOCERT in Business Development and Commercial Director roles.
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Environmental scientist by training, Damien has coordinated habitat restoration in Florida’s wetlands and biodiversity research in Madagascar before focusing on sustainable cotton since 2005. Working with organic cotton producers in West Africa, he developed sustainable pest management methods, and also worked with fashion schools across Europe, educating the fashion designers of tomorrow about sustainable materials. After managing Fairtrade’s global cotton programme, he led the development of Better Cotton’s standards and farmer support programme until 2024. He now helps sustainability systems enhance their impact and drive market transformation.
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Prakash Menakel Philip, PhD, is the Global Director of Strategy and Impact at CottonConnect, where he leads initiatives to create sustainable, transparent, and resilient cotton supply chains. Since joining in 2021, he has spearheaded global strategies across Standards and Partnerships, Traceability, and Impact. Prakash leads the implementation of impact measurement systems at CottonConnect, working closely with partners to track outcomes across farmer livelihoods, regenerative practices, and programme effectiveness. Under his guidance, CottonConnect has strengthened its traceability framework through digital innovations and robust data systems.
REEL Cotton Standard
The REEL Cotton Standard is based on the well-established REEL Cotton Code, developed by CottonConnect in 2016 to meet the need of brands and retailers for a third-party verified sustainable cotton programme.
The REEL Cotton Standard contains criteria under nine principles to promote responsible cotton production through environmental, social, and fair labour practices.
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REEL Regenerative Standard
The REEL Regenerative Standard contains the same criteria as the REEL Cotton Standard, plus additional requirements on regenerative agricultural practices such as agrodiversity and agroforestry which enable farmers to mitigate and adapt to climate change, and restore biodiversity and natural habitat.
The REEL Regenerative Standard enables brands to further support cotton farming communities to adopt and maintain practices which not only prevent negative environmental impact but can also have a regenerative effect.
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Stakeholder consultation
The development of the REEL Standards included a multi-stakeholder consultation, with stakeholders involved in implementing the Standards, or affected by the implementation of the Standards, plus subject matter experts. There was also a public consultation inviting comments on the draft REEL Standards.
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Governance
The REEL Standards have a detailed governance model with a Standard Governance Body, Advisory Council and a Secretariat to oversee the implementation, management, and development of the Standards.
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Chain of custody
Certified REEL Cotton and REEL Regenerative Cotton is segregated and tracked through a chain of custody to ensure its integrity.
The certified cotton moves through the supply chain with associated digital records in TraceBale, CottonConnect’s own traceability software tool.
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TO BE UPLOADED SOON
Monitoring and evaluation
A range of environmental and social key performance indicators are measured to evaluate the outcomes of the required practices of the REEL Standards, with data verified by CottonConnect and third-party verifiers. Further outcomes, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, are evaluated via a LCA study.
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Assurance and certification
The REEL Standards have annual third-party verification of adherence to the REEL Standard criteria.
Cotton verified as being produced according the REEL Cotton Standard or REEL Regenerative Standard can be certified as ‘REEL Cotton’ or ‘REEL Regenerative Cotton.’
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Claims framework
Brand and retailers using certified REEL Cotton and REEL Regenerative Cotton in their products can make claims according to the claims guidelines. The approved claims cover certification, environmental, social, and traceability claims.
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TO BE UPLOADED SOON
Get in touch
Interested in how our REEL programmes can support you? Give us a call.