Textile Exchange releases Responsible Down Standard 2.0
The Textile Exchange has updated the Responsible Down Standard (RDS) after an international working group - which included the European Outdoor Group and Outdoor Industry Association, The North Face and adidas - revised the original standard, which was ‘gifted’ by the North Face at the start of 2013.
The goal of the RDS is to recognise and encourage best practices in animal welfare and to enable traceability so that products can be labelled accurately and consumers can make informed choices.
The updated standard bans parallel production - certified and non-certified birds at the same site - at all stages of farming; this means that, for example, farmers cannot have some birds that they live pluck, and others that they do not.
“We welcome the efforts made through the RDS to achieve higher animal welfare safeguards and full supply chain traceability within the down industry. The RDS has been successful in driving transparency and adoption of traceability across the down supply chain. Our hope is for the standard to continue evolving in order to provide the highest possible guarantees that live-plucking and fore-feeding are fully excluded from the down supply chain.” said Nina Jamal from Germany-based campaign group Four Paws, whose investigations highlighted bad practises a few years ago.
Down and feathers are traditionally sourced from waterfowl already earmarked for the food supply, however, there is an inevitable risk of animal welfare issues with the use of farm animals for industrial purposes. The primary mandate of the RDS is to prevent practices such as force-feeding and live-plucking as well as provide strict approvals on issues such as food and water quality, housing, stock density and outdoor access, animal health, hygiene and pest and predator control, among others.
