ABSTRACT
Global Organic Textile Standard is a standard focused on the promotion of textile and apparel (T&A) products made from natural organic fibres. Respecting workers' rights and protecting the environment in the T&A sector should be read as a function of two strongly characteristic factors: the complexity of the production chain and the relationships of power within, and the displacement of production towards emerging and developing countries. Among the factors which have influenced and continue to affect the international process of reorganising T&A production, there is the advantage of outsourcing those stages of the production chain which are characterised by a high intensity of unskilled labour towards countries with an extremely low labour cost. The T&A sector are distinguished by the strong presence of women, who in the poorer countries have often had no previous income opportunities other than domestic or casual labour.
