Criteria and Principles
The Good Cashmere Standard covers four main areas of cashmere production: goat management, social criteria, environmental criteria and management criteria for small as well as large farms and buying stations. It defines mandatory criteria that must be met in order for a farm to be certified as well as so called „development criteria”.
Should a farm fail to fulfil a mandatory criterion, it will be considered to be non-compliant. This can result in a farm not receiving certification in the first place or being removed from the certified supply chain. The Five Freedoms as defined by the Farm Animal Welfare Council provide the overarching principles of The Good Cashmere Standard that are mandatory criteria. They state that no animal be subjected to hunger, thirst, discomfort, pain, injury or disease and that animals must also have the freedom to express normal behaviour and live a life free from fear and distress.