GOTS transaction certificates from 1 January 2027
If you are a GOTS-certified trader, every transaction certificate (TC) your certifier issues from 1 January 2027 follows a new procedure. This page sums up what changes and what to have ready for each order.
What changes and when
On 15 May 2026 Global Standard, the organisation behind GOTS, published version 4.0 of its procedure and template for issuing transaction certificates. It applies from 1 January 2027: every TC issued from that date follows it, and certifiers may apply it earlier (1.3). It is partly harmonised with the Textile Exchange policy.
Every TC goes through Global Trace Base
All approved certifiers issue TCs through Global Trace Base (GTB), Global Standard's database, and every TC issued must be in it (1.1). GTB assigns each TC its number (3.1.2).
Global Standard treats the information on a TC as confidential: it may be disclosed only to the seller and buyer named on it, their certifiers and the accreditation bodies (1.2).
What the certifier checks before issuing, and what the trader must have
The duty is the certifier's, not the trader's. But the certifier can only check what the trader gives it.
| The certifier, before issuing the TC | The trader, for each order |
|---|---|
| Issues it only to a certified seller with a scope certificate valid on the shipment date (2.1.2, 2.1.3). | Its scope certificate, valid on the shipment dates. |
| Verifies the documents behind every item of data on the TC (2.1.6). | Invoice and packing list for the order, with products, quantities and weights. |
| Evaluates the authenticity of the documents, including confirming that the input TCs are authentic as set out in section 2.4 (2.1.7). | The input TC for each purchase, with its number. |
| Compares the products with the seller's scope certificate (2.1.8). | Products described as on its scope certificate. |
| Carries out volume reconciliation (2.1.9). | Quantities that reconcile across input TCs, purchases and sales. |
From 2027, before issuing yours, your certifier has to confirm that the input TCs are authentic. Without the input TC for a purchase, it has nothing to confirm.
The signed PDF
The TC is a PDF (2.2.4) digitally signed with a document-signing certificate from an authority on the Adobe Approved Trust List (AATL) or the EU Trust List (EUTL), and clearly attributable to the certifier or to Global Standard (2.2.5). The signature restricts what can be done with the document to reading and printing (note 2 to that clause). A PDF reader shows who signed it.
How a TC is authenticated
Each certifier tells Global Standard which method it uses, and Global Standard publishes it on its approved certification bodies page (2.4.1). It may use one or more of these (2.4.2):
- An email address from which the certifier confirms the certificate is valid within two business days.
- A single web page where valid certificates can be looked up.
- A web address on each certificate, as text or QR code, with a random element and on a domain the certifier names.
- The digital signature itself, naming the authority that issued the signing certificate and the certifier as it appears on it.
- Another method approved by Global Standard.
Not every TC carries a link: it depends on the method each certifier has chosen.
What each container file needs
- For each purchase, the input TC number and the seller's scope certificate number.
- The signed TC, with the signature attributable to the certifier.
- Invoice and packing list whose products, quantities and weights match the TC.
- The seller and buyer on the TC against those on the invoice.
Cotejado delivers each order's TCs checked and matched with their invoice and packing list, in one file per order, for your certifier's audit.