US, Australia Team Up for Cotton LEADS Initiative

The United States and Australian cotton industries have joined hands to increase awareness among manufacturers, retailers, brands and consumers on how the cotton industry leads in responsible production and having a balance of social, environmental and economic sustainability.

Towards this end, a major initiative was launched this week by the cotton industry of the United States and Australia. The Cotton LEADS initiative is centered around five core principles that include: commitment to social, environmental and economic sustainability; a recognition that such an effort requires continual improvement, investment in research and development; a belief in cooperative effort to make cotton competitive in global markets; and the confidence in tracking and traceability of cotton from where it is produced.

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In a recent conference call, Mark Messura, senior vice president, global supply chain marketing of Cotton Incorporated said, “United States and Australia have worked for decades on this theme and has launched this concerted effort to encourage companies to be a member in Cotton LEADS initiative”. Participation in this effort by brands, retailers and manufacturers would mean that they believe and support the five core principles of the Cotton LEADS initiative for responsible cotton production and would also use cotton as a preferred fiber in their supply chain.

Although this program currently includes only the United States and Australia, Messura hopes that some other countries will also join the effort. Messura clearly stated that the competition to the US cotton industry is not from cotton of other countries but is mainly from synthetic fibers.

The need to have more focused awareness has come because retailers, brands and manufacturers have become more interested in knowing the origin of their products, and in the case of cotton, how and where they are produced.

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Many industry organizations in the United States and Australia support this initiative such as Cotton Incorporated, the National Cotton Council, Cotton Council International, Cotton Australia, Australian Cotton Shippers Association and Cotton Research and Development Corporation, Australia.

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