Responsible Down Standard
After nearly two years in development, the Responsible Down Standard (RDS) developed by Control Union, Textile Exchange and The North Face is now complete and published.
The range in down supply chain structures made it a challenge to create an effective
standard, but the RDS balances rigor with flexibility, and allows for wide-scale
adoption. Down for the outdoor industry is primarily sourced in Eastern Europe and
China and can come from large scale industrialized farms or from informal collection
systems that draw from small scale farms, including families raising just a few geese or duck for their own use.
The standard does not only address live plucking and forcefeeding but general animal welfare requirements and traceability as well.
The standard development included robust stakeholder engagement, with input from
supply chain members, farmers, animal welfare organizations (four paws, PETA, Human society), and industry experts.
The RDS is owned and managed by Textile Exchange, which is a non-profit organization committed to the responsible expansion of textile sustainability across
the global textile value chain. Control Union ? the only certification body - is carrying out third party audits.
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