Two garment manufacturers in Asia, Suzhou Deylon Textile Co. Ltd. and Shangdong Lawrance Textiles Co. Ltd., became the first in the region to be issued the Oeko-TexStandard 100plus label for their products.

Suzhou Deylon Textile Co. Ltd. makes traditional headwear for the Arab market and Shandong Lawrance Textiles Co. Ltd. produces undergarments for the Chinese domestic market and export to Europe. Key requirements for certification are that the labelled items are tested for harmful substances in accordance with Oeko-TexStandard 100 and produced in environmentally-friendly production facilities that apply socially responsible policies as stipulated in Oeko-TexStandard 1000. These standards must also be applied throughout the entire production cycle, from the manufacture of yarn to the finished product.

At the moment, there are three companies world-wide whose ready-to-wear products are certified to bear the Oeko-Tex Standard 100plus label. Suzhou Deylon Textile and Shandong Lawrance Textiles are Chinese subsidiaries of the Saudi Arabia-based investor Ajlan & Bros. The company has a total of 16 manufacturing plants in China that produce a broad range of textile products. Product certification in accordance with Oeko-TexStandard 100 and the on-site audits and certification in accordance with the criteria of Oeko-TexStandard 1000 were made by the Swiss Textile Testing Institute, Testex, which has seven representative offices in six Asian countries, two of them in China.

Shandong Lawrance Textile Co. Ltd. was established in 2003 as a production facility for all types of outerwear in Zaozhuang City (Shandong Province). Since 2006, the underwear collections of the brands "Drosh", "Pioneer", and "Biyajeh" have met the humanecological requirements set by the Oeko-TexStandard 100. In December 2008, the plant successfully completed on-site audits and the company received certification in accordance with Oeko-TexStandard 1000.

Suzhou Deylon Textile Co. Ltd. of Wujiang City (Jiangsu Province) specialises in the production of the traditional headwear worn in the Arab world, the yashmagh and ghuttra. Since the beginning of 2008, the company's entire quality range has been certified in accordance with Oeko-TexStandard 100. Above and beyond that, in the middle of last year, the production facility became the first in Asia to ever be certified in accordance with Oeko-TexStandard 1000 in recognition of its environmentally-friendly and socially responsible working conditions.