Brazil Shows Its Cotton Traceability Program At Kingpins Show

Brazilian cotton producers concluded their visit to various countries in Europe with the objective to show Brazilian cotton’s traceability initiatives and its responsible production practices.

The delegation consisted of the Brazilian Cotton Growers Association’s (Abrapa), the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex Brasil) and the National Cotton Shippers Association (Anea).

On April 22 and 23, the Brazilian delegation was in Brussels, Belgium and on April 24 and 25, they participated in the Kingpins Show, a denim trade fair held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

In Brussels, the team met with the International Wool Textile Organization. On the agenda was a proposal to join forces to promote natural fibres as a more sustainable alternative to synthetic fibres.

In order to get up to date with the latest changes and regulations in the EU that may impact Brazilian cotton exports, the delegation met with Brazilian agricultural attachés working in Europe.

“The schedule also included a meeting at the Apex-Brasil office in Brussels and a meeting with the Brazilian Ambassador to Belgium, Pedro Miguel Costa e Silva,” Cotton Brazil reported.

Cotton Brazil also set up a stand at the Kingpins Show, where one of the attractions was to show visitors how the socio-environmental certification of Brazilian cotton is implemented.

The visitors were shown as to how garments can be tracked made with Brazilian cotton using a QR Code showing the journey of Brazilian cotton used to make those apparels from the farm to consumer.

“What impressed people the most was seeing that it is possible to follow the whole journey of the garment right up to the consumer,” Abrapa’s Sustainability Manager Fabio Carneiro said.

“The Brazilian traceability system shows that we are open to having this dialogue with the ever more demanding consumers,” Carneiro explained.

The booth also screened the latest São Paulo Fashion Week held in partnership with the Sou de Algodão (I’m in Cotton) movement, an Abrapa project that promotes Brazilian cotton to domestic brands.

“Our aim is to better understand European Union regulations for foreign trade and assess the impact on our sector,” Alexandre Schenkel, President of Abrapa said.

“We want to be as well-prepared as possible for the new global sustainability and responsibility requirements for cotton production,” he too added.

Cotton Brazil is the program that represents the entire Brazilian cotton production chain on a global scale.

It was designed and has been developed by Abrapa since 2020 in partnership with Apex-Brasil and with support from Anea.

Currently, Brazil is the third largest cotton producer and the second largest exporter of cotton in the world.

In the 2023-24 cotton market year (August 2023 to July 2024), Anea forecasts that 2.57 million tons of Brazilian cotton will be exported.