Organic cotton first appeared on the Japanese market around 2000. At that time, the price was very high, and it was not something that could be afforded easily. My impression was that it was a reasonable price because it was grown with "no pesticides" and "organic fertilizers," as is the case with vegetables and fruits, and a lot of manpower and labor went into its cultivation. I remember that they were sold mainly by retailers who were passionate about environmental issues. I remember being surprised at the high prices, with some little shirts costing close to 10,000 yen.

I started growing organic cotton in Cambodia in 2008. I thought it would be better to have organic certification, so I contacted a major certification agency in France. The person in charge of the certification body stationed in Bangkok would not do a field survey and obtain a quote because "the area was too small". I think it was not worth it as a business.

After that, I did not pay much attention to organic cotton, but in 2010, I was surprised by the news distributed by a German journalist.

「オーガニックコットン使用量が世界4位のH&M（スウェーデン）の認証済であるオーガニックコットンに、遺伝子組み替えコットンが混入している可能性がある」と判明したのです。遺伝子組み替え種子を使ったコットンは、オーガニックコットンとして認証されることはありません。

インドで栽培された遺伝子組み替えコットンが「認証済オーガニックコットン」として世界のマーケットに流通し、それがH&Mのオーガニックコットン製品にも混入していた可能性が示されたのです。

The falsification case was said to be an act of deception committed by some cotton farmers, but India's Department of Agriculture and Processed Foods Export Development was already aware of the falsification in April 2009. The Indian authorities have repeatedly asked Control Union, an organic certification organization headquartered in the Netherlands, to conduct on-site investigations.

However, the certifying agency, Control Union, certified genetically modified cotton as "organic cotton" and distributed it in large quantities on the world market.

Six months later, a sample sampling survey was conducted by a completely different research organization from the certification body, Control Union. It was there that the "organic cotton falsification case" was first discovered.

偽装事件の発覚を受けて、スウェーデンのH&Mは「我が社の製品に偽装オーガニックコットンが使われたと信じるに足る証拠は何もない」と主張。「今後もオーガニックコットンを使い続ける」と発表しました。

この偽装事件に巻き込まれたのはスウェーデンのH&Mだけでなく、オランダのファストファッションのC&Aも、偽装オーガニックコットンを使用している疑いがかけられました。

オーガニック認証機関に高額な認証料を払ったH&MやC&Aは、被害者とも言えるでしょう。しかしその一方で、オーガニックコットンを消費者に販売するアパレル企業として、H&Mは、インドの農業・加工食品輸出開発局が現地調査の要請をしていたことを、まったく知らなかったのでしょうか？知っていたけれど、取り合わなかったのでしょうか？

Below are the world apparel rankings for organic cotton consumption in 2008.

5. Zara　　　 (Spain)
4. H&M　 　 (スウェーデン)
3. Nike　 　 (U.S.A)
2. C&A　 　 (オランダ)
1. Wal-Mart 　(U.S.A)

Wal-Mart, the U.S.-based retailer that touts "everyday at a bargain price"-is the largest consumer of organic cotton. Fast fashion brands dominate the top of the list, except for Nike in sports shoes.

Organic cotton is supposed to be labor intensive, requiring a lot of manpower to grow. Why is it that organic cotton is lined up in large quantities in fast fashion stores, where one of the characteristics is "cheapness"?

( to be continued )