The Better Cotton Initiative Accreditation program (BCI) is a voluntary accreditation program governed solely by the private standard setter Better Cotton. BCI's mission is to help cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment. This is achieved through a combination of a third-party certification scheme and first- and second-party verification alongside training and monitoring.
Around 23% of cotton in the world was produced under this scheme during 2025. The farm level standard (BCI Principles and Criteria) which set the standard that participants must abide by covers topics including quality management, natural resources, crop protection, fibre quality, decent work and sustainable livelihoods. Gender equality and climate change are emphasised as cross-cutting issues.
A chain of custody standard is available to intermediaries, ginners, lint traders, mills with spinning capabilities, mills or suppliers without spinning capabilities (including fabric mills, dying mills, yarn and/or fabric traders, vertical mills), end-product manufacturers, sourcing agents, brands and retailers.
Certification bodies are assessed against the BCI General Certification Requirements for Certification Bodies v1.1 (August 2025) which is based on ISO/IEC 17065. Requirements for accreditation are included.
Further information can be found on the BCI website.