Brand and Retailer Membership Agreement Executive Summary
Goals and Purposes of the Agreement
Goals
This Agreement will provide the Brand-Retailer a means to encourage, support, and verify more sustainable cotton production practices in the United States and thereby to increase the sustainability of the Brand-Retailer’s cotton supply chain.
Purposes
- Set out terms and conditions under which sustainably grown cotton will be made available to the Brand-Retailer for use in its supply chain and marketing plans.
- Set out terms and conditions under which Brand-Retailer will have access to aggregated data associated with the production of sustainably grown cotton.
- Set out the terms and conditions under which both parties may promote public awareness of the Brand-Retailer’s support and participation in the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol™.
Roles and Responsibilities
What the Protocol Will Do
- Provide the Brand-Retailer access to a Sustainability Program that:
- Sets and maintains high sustainability criteria that participating U.S. cotton producers will meet.
- Enrolls U.S. cotton producers who agree to meet the Protocol’s high sustainability criteria.
- Utilizes third-party verification to ensure that participating cotton producers meet the Protocol’s high sustainability criteria.
- Maintain and provide access to the Protocol Cconsumption Management Solution that brands and retailers can use to facilitate and track their purchases of sustainably grown cotton.
- Track and provide aggregated data of sustainable growing practices and that can be used to show the impact of the Brand-Retailers support for the Protocol’s Sustainability Program.
- License use of the Protocol logo to show consumers that the Brand-Retailer’s products are made from sustainably grown cotton.
- Display the Brand-Retailer’s logo/emblem on the Protocol’s website and materials to show the Brand-Retailer’s support for the Protocol’s Sustainability Program.
What the Brand-Retailer Will Do
- Support the Protocol’s Sustainability Program financially through:
- Annual fees; and,
- Additional fees associated with the use of the Protocol Consumption
- Adhere to the Protocol’s Code of Conduct, which enumerates ethical business practices consistent with the spirit of the Protocol’s Sustainability Program.
- License use of its logo to the Protocol for display on the Protocol’s website and materials to show the Brand-Retailer’s support for the goals and purposes of the Protocol’s Sustainability Program.
- Consider utilizing the Protocol Consumption Management Solution.
- Protect any confidential data obtained through access to the Protocol from unauthorized disclosure.
