Since STeP certification for Sustainable Textile Production was introduced in June 2013, the International Oeko-Tex® Association has trained a total of 57 auditors in Europe and Asia. During this time and in addition to 8 pilot projects at various stages, 8 certifications for the rotating transition from OEKO-TEX Standard 1000 to STeP have been carried out and 17 new clients entered into the web-based assessment tool. In the first week of April 2014 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 11 more OEKO-TEX® experts from North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia were trained as STeP auditors in all matters concerning STeP. By deploying technicians and engineers from OEKO-TEX® institutes and their offices throughout the world for this demanding training, members of the International OEKO-TEX® Association vouch for the high value placed on sustainability in textile production. Guided by OEKO-TEX® Association trainers, the prospective auditors successfully completed a four-day training programme, working through the six STeP certification modules with the help of practical examples. The information they swapped on their different cultural backgrounds and on the current state of the textile industry in their home countries of Cambodia, China, India, Australia, USA, Brazil, Italy, France and Germany additionally enriched the workshop for participants. The training sessions emphasised independence, neutrality and uniformity in the assessment of production processes in the textile chain.
