Certifications and traceability of Madagascar raffia: what fashion houses require

WRAP, GOTS, OCS, ICS, BSCI: what they cover, how a Madagascar workshop maintains them, and what actually matters at audit.

No European fashion procurement team will validate a raffia supplier without a compliance file. The five certifications that keep coming up in briefs — WRAP, GOTS, OCS, ICS, BSCI — don't cover the same ground, and knowing what each one does (and doesn't) prevents misunderstandings at contract time.

WRAP — responsible production

WRAP (Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production) is a global ethical-production standard. It audits working conditions, safety, environment, customs compliance and local-law compliance. For a fashion house sourcing outside Europe, WRAP is the first filter.

GOTS and OCS — organic textile and organic content

GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) and OCS (Organic Content Standard) cover the traceability of organic textile fibres from field to finished product. Raffia is not a GOTS textile (it's a harvested plant fibre, not cultivated), but a GOTS/OCS-certified workshop has shown it can trace material — that discipline reassures on the raffia chain.

ICS and BSCI — social audit

ICS (Initiative Clause Sociale, run by FCD) and BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative, run by Amfori) are two multi-brand social-audit programmes. They verify human rights, absence of forced or child labour, wages and working hours. Many major brands require one or the other — a workshop audited on both covers both frameworks.

What these certifications don't cover

• The botanical origin of the raffia (Raphia farinifera vs other species) — documented separately.
• REACH compliance on dyes (a supplier technical sheet remains required).
• CITES: Raphia farinifera is not listed, but the question comes up at export — the workshop must have an answer.
• Carbon footprint: none of these certifications measures it.

How SOBIKA operates

SOBIKA is a subsidiary of the LOI Confection textile group, which holds and maintains WRAP, GOTS, OCS, ICS and BSCI. The raffia subsidiary inherits this framework: on-site audits, per-lot quality control, fibre traceability from the collection cooperative to the Antananarivo workshop. Audit reports and certificates are shared under NDA when onboarding a new client.