OEKO-TEX, BSCI and GRS: what is the difference and which do I need?

These three certificates answer different questions, and mixing them up is the most common buyer confusion:

• OEKO-TEX Standard 100 (product-level): certifies that fabrics and trims are tested free of harmful substances. This is the chemical-safety baseline for EU and North American retail, and it applies to a named fabric or article.
• BSCI (company-level): a social compliance audit covering labour standards, working hours, safety and worker treatment at the factory. Retail and public-sector buyers increasingly require a current audit report from the manufacturing site itself.
• GRS (product/chain-level): Global Recycled Standard - certifies recycled content and its chain of custody. Needed when you make recycled-content claims on labels or in marketing, and increasingly scored in tenders and EPR eco-modulation.

Which do you need? A practical default for an outdoor brand importing to the EU or US: OEKO-TEX on the fabrics you use, BSCI on the factory that sews, GRS whenever you claim recycled content. Add market-specific items on top: REACH, CE for PPE, EN/ANSI high-vis, flame-retardant standards.

UniOuter holds OEKO-TEX Standard 100, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, BSCI and GRS at company level, and arranges product-level testing per style.

See the full certification explainer and the EU/US importer compliance guide.