Sustainable Cotton procurement policy for suppliers

For Avon International*. 

Approved by Avon International CEO August 2024

1. Introduction

• At Avon International, we’re passionate about making the world a better place and doing beauty differently. Our sustainability vision is to create a better world for women, which is better world for all, and to have a positive impact on our climate and communities. As part of our sustainability journey, we recognise that some materials we use have significant social or environmental risks. We therefore aim for full traceability and/or certification of our critical supply chains (palm, soya, ethanol, mica, cotton and paper) by 2025.
• Key social and environmental risks: Cotton is a high sustainability risk material from both an environmental and social perspective. Key risks in cotton cultivation are intensive water and agrochemical use, loss of biodiversity, significant GHG emissions, soil depletion and degradation as well as labour exploitation such as forced or child labour. Traceability and certification are tools Avon International is using to manage and significantly reduce these risks in our supply chains.
• Scope:Avon International uses cotton primarily in textiles, as well as part of some cosmetic accessories and ingredients. All finished goods and ingredients containing cotton supplied to Avon International must meet the sustainability requirements set out below. These requirements will be applied in Avon International tenders, supplier and material approval processes and are applicable to all cotton used in goods for resale or indirectly, whether manufactured internally or by third parties. Should we find that any purchased goods or materials do not meet these requirements, we will engage the supplier to change practices and/or re-evaluate our relationship with them.
• Traceability and certification requirements in brief:
  • The preference is given to recycled cotton over virgin cotton.
  • All Avon International suppliers must provide accurate information on the origin of cotton cultivation for all relevant goods.
  • All cotton containing textiles from elevated risk originsmust be certified by end of 2024, as per appendix 2.
  • For the remining origins, all cotton-containing textiles supplied to Avon must be certified to an acceptable third-party standard by 2030, with pilot certification programmes to be implemented in selected supply chains by 2025.
  • Cosmetic ingredients containing cotton cellulose are not required be certified by 2025, but suppliers must declare cotton origins and be working towards achieving certification in their supply chains. More details are given in section 2 of this policy.
• Supplier milestones:

2.Detailed Requirements

Traceability

All Avon International suppliers of products and ingredients containing cotton must provide (at a minimum) accurate information on the origin country/ies of cotton cultivation for the materials supplied, as part of Avon International tenders, supplier, product and ingredient approval procedures and annual reporting. Failure to provide accurate and timely traceability information on request may result in rejection. Some suppliers may also be invited to participate in additional supply chain traceability initiatives in line with Avon International sustainability goals or risk management procedures. Avon International would like to understand the measures that suppliers are taking in order to ensure traceability of their cotton supply chains and encourage suppliers to work with us on this area.

Elevated risk origins

Countries where cotton is grown are typically China, India, United States, Brazil, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, and Australia. Some countries have been identified as elevated risk origins for cotton cultivation (appendix 1) and sourcing from these regions could support environmental or human rights abuses which Avon International have committed to reducing. This list may be subject to change.

Cotton containing textiles and accessories supplied to Avon International with elevated risk origins for cotton cultivation must achieve relevant third party certification as per appendix 2, from 31/12/2022 for new product developments and no later than 31/12/2024 for all materials supplied to Avon International.

Certification requirements for cotton containing textiles and accessories

All Avon International suppliers must provide valid evidence for the applicable third-party certification standard for the cotton materials supplied, and (where applicable) supplier chain of custody certification, in the format required by Avon International. Acceptable certification standards and timelines differ by brand as outlined in appendix 2.

Certification requirements for cosmetic ingredients that include cotton cellulose feedstocks

Cotton-derived cellulose is used in speciality functional cosmetic ingredients in very small volumes by Avon International group companies. The cotton feedstocks used in these cosmetic ingredient supply chains are not yet typically certified. Suppliers of cosmetic ingredients that include cotton cellulose feedstocks will be expected to provide accurate origin information for the materials supplied and develop a plan by 31/12/2025 to reach 100% certification for the cotton in their supply chains.

Unacceptable sources of cotton

Avon International will support suppliers to grow their capabilities in the areas of traceability and certification, however if suppliers are not willing to develop capability to deliver commercially viable traceable, certified cotton materials as per the requirements of this policy, they will not be used to supply cotton containing textiles and accessories to Avon International after 31/12/2023. Any suppliers, from any country of cotton cultivation origin, found to be involved in human rights violations, environmentally destructive practices or otherwise violating the Avon International supplier code of conduct may be exited.

3.Collaboration and contact

Above and beyond these requirements, we encourage you and your suppliers to participate in and support collaborations to ensure that poor labour conditions and environmental damage are eliminated from cotton supply chains in the apparel, textiles and cosmetics sectors. We also need support from suppliers to help us meet the Avon International commitment to become Net Zero by 2030 and set a Carbon reduction pathway in line with the SBTi requirements. We further encourage our suppliers to come forward with proposals for more traceable and sustainable cotton containing materials that we can use in our business. Avon International is a member of Textile Exchange and we encourage you to join this and other collaborations to deliver sustainable improvements across cotton sector.

For further information on this policy, possible exceptions and Avon International plans to achieve 100% traceable and/or certified cotton by 2025, please contact critical.materials@avon.com

Flow chart - Requirements for cotton containing textiles and accessories

Appendix 1

Elevated risk origins for cotton**

Appendix 2

Acceptable certification standards for elevated risk origins

From 31/12/2022 (for new product developments in textiles and accessories) and no later than by 31/12/2024 (for the remining textiles and accessories), cotton from elevated risk origin to all Avon International brands, must be ROC or GOTS certified.

Cotton supplied to Avon must be certified to at least one of the third-party standards as per the table below by 31/12/2030 at the latest.

Recycled materials are preferred to support Avon International to meet its targets on circularity and carbon reduction.

	GRS*	RCS*	GOTS	OCS	ROC	FLO	USCTP	CMiA HIP	CMiA MB
Elevated Risk Origins for cotton cultivation
Remaining origins for cotton cultivation

*100% recycled content is preferred in case of recycled standards. Lower % of recycled content can be accepted, with appropriate level of due diligence for virgin cotton in the mix.

Additional third-party standards may be added to this list if they provide acceptable levels of traceability, social and environmental sustainability assurance in cotton supply chains.

*Avon International refers to Avon operations in globally, except for United States and Latin America