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Coop Switzerland with its clothing line Naturaline had a frontier experience. This group is the largest seller of items manufactured in biological cotton. The products are made of natural fibres coming from companies which grow biological crops, as defined in the Biosuisse directives for biological agriculture of 1st 1997 or EC directives (2092/91 of 24.6.1992 and subsequent amendments). Most of the cotton used comes from plantations and weaving mills situated in Maikaal, India. Fabrics can contain very small quantities of other fibres, and only if strictly necessary in order to increase wear resistance and comfort. The substances used for finishing derive mainly and as far as possible from natural materials. The materials that allegedly cause allergy are banned. The other fibres and substances must at least comply with the Standard ökotex 100. A very important aspect - starting from cotton crops - is that of labour relations. Wages are paid that can ensure decorous lives to workers. Excessively long working time is banned as well as children working, slavery, forced labour as well as the exploitation of workers coming from prisons and any form of discrimination due to race, sex, religion or political opinion. The Coop Naturaline brand is exclusively granted by Coop teams based an well-established procedures and after consulting in-house and external experts. The industry of biological cotton is still young, global and with a high growth potential. Apparently there are no specific barriers hindering its growth. Companies need to make significant capital investments in order to enter this market; no specific technologies are required to further expand this industry. The biological sector can thus be considered as a substitute market. (Bilingual document: Italian/English)