During the past two decades, significant progress has been made in reducing the incidence of child laborers in the South Asian carpet industry. GoodWeave aims to bring that number down to zero, to help eliminate child labor from other industries, and to give every child an opportunity to go to school.
Following on more than 15 years of protecting children and promoting ethical carpet and rug production, GoodWeave International (formerly RugMark International) re-branded its certification program, label and organization. In 2009, the GoodWeave brand was launched with a strategic plan to strengthen and enhance its core mission. The development of a new Generic Standard for the Rug Industry is a central part of this transformation.
While GoodWeave’s mission remains constant, there is a growing recognition that child labor cannot be eradicated without also addressing adult working conditions and environmental stewardship. Additionally, much has changed in the marketplace over the past decade. Supplier codes of conduct are increasingly commonplace and consumer demand for ethical labels is greater than ever.
In order to better serve children and families in carpet weaving communities and adapt to the changing marketplace, the GoodWeave certification is introducing a more comprehensive set of requirements for its standard, developed through extensive research, pilot testing and multi-stakeholder consultations.
The Standard Development Public Summary describes the scope, objectives, rationale and timeline that were proposed for the new standard in 2009-2010. This is a historical document, which stakeholders were invited to comment on, and was last updated in June 2010. Click here to download the full text of the June 2010 Public Summary.
New Standard Rationale and Initial Findings
New Standard Aims and Structure
The new standard will be reviewed after six months of implementation. A new Public Summary will be released for stakeholder feedback at that time. To learn more about the new standard public consultations in 2010, please click here.