RugMark International

In the past two decades, significant progress has been made in reducing the incidence of child laborers in the South Asian carpet industry. The vision of GoodWeave is to bring that number down to zero, to help eliminate child labor from other industries, and to give every child an opportunity to go to school.

In order to better serve children and families in carpet weaving communities and recognizing the need to adapt to the changing marketplace, the GoodWeave program is developing a new, more comprehensive set of requirements for its certification standard. This initiative reflects a growing recognition that the problem of child labor is deeply intertwined with those of adult working conditions and environmental stewardship.

All interested parties are invited to participate in the development of the new GoodWeave standard, through a public consultation from March 3 – May 1, 2010. A public summary and draft of the proposed new standard are available here, and interested parties are welcome to submit comments online, by email, or by mail to any of GoodWeave’s national initiative offices.  Please contact us if you would like to discuss in-person or other ways of contributing to the public consultation.

Click here for more information and to take part in the public consultation.

After 15 years of protecting children and promoting ethical carpet and rug production, RugMark International (RMI) is phasing out its existing certification label and logo and replacing it with a new brand, and a new plan to strengthen and enhance its core mission.

GoodWeave will have the same meaning as the RugMark label: a deep commitment to

• the deterrence of child labor,
• the education and rehabilitation of rescued child workers in the carpet industry, and
• the families and communities of more than 3,200 children in India and Nepal that we actively serve.

Both the existing RugMark label and the new GoodWeave label assure that no children under age 14 were employed by the facility responsible for making the labeled rug.

In addition, GoodWeave will, in time, represent an enhanced set of values that places the RugMark mission in a broader context of environmental and social responsibility. Through a new set of standards under development, GoodWeave label directives will be more rigorous, transparent and defined, and with input from a multi-stakeholder standards committee. For guidance in this effort, RMI is an associate member of the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labeling Alliance (ISEAL), a global leader in setting norms and best practices for certification. The RugMark International website will make policies and procedures available to any interested party and facilitate comment on standard-setting.

Additional resources are available to RugMark licensees and Marketing Partners in the Member Resources area.

News

RugMark International’s ongoing efforts to meet best practices in standard setting include promoting transparency and stakeholder engagement. In line with these principles, the following documents are available for public review and comment. Click on the title of the document below to open the file in a new window. Click on the link directly below the document name to submit a comment online.

RMI Operating Procedures (OP) cover the work of the RMI Secretariat

• RMI OP Development of GoodWeave Standards
  • Click here for comments
    
• RMI OP Complaints Against GoodWeave Standards
  • Click here for comments

Version 1 of the OP documents above were finalized on May 30, 2009. Subsequent revisions have been added based on input from ISEAL and the RMI members.

Documents

RMI joins ISEAL Alliance. In an ongoing effort to meet best practices of the growing certification movement, RugMark has joined the ISEAL Alliance as an associate member. The ISEAL Alliance defines and codifies good practice at the international level for the design and implementation of social and environmental standards systems. ISEAL Alliance associate members are committed to creating credible and effective standards systems by working towards full compliance with the Codes of Good Practice.  The ISEAL Alliance provides a global framework for the social and environmental standards movement to coordinate, cooperate and build its capacity to deliver positive global impacts.