After leading the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) nonprofit since it was founded in 2002, Herbert Ladwig has stepped down as managing director, turning leadership over to two people.

Claudia Kersten and Rahul Bhajekar are now in charge as dual managers of the group, which is an operating unit of Global Standard gemeinnützige GmbH. Ladwig will continue to serve as a policy and legal adviser. Kersten and Bhajekar have been working as directors for GOTS for some time.

“I am extremely pleased that we can secure my succession with these two top executives leading the Global Standard gGmbH,” Ladwig said.

GOTS is the voluntary global standard for the entire post-harvest processing of apparel and home textiles made with certified organic fiber,including organic cotton and organic wool. It also takes into account both environmental and social criteria. Key provisions include a ban on the use of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, highly hazardous chemicals and child labor, while requiring strong social-compliance management systems and strict wastewater treatment practices.

There are 5,000 operations with more than 1.7 million workers in more than 60 countries around the world that were GOTS certified in 2017.