P&C v.3.2, which comes into effect on 1 April, follows an independent assessment of BCI’s standard against recognised regenerative programmes and industry-wide consultations to ensure alignment on the proposed changes.

Jannis Bellinghausen, Senior Director of Standards System Integrity, said: “Our P&C is a living resource routinely updated to remain relevant and reflective of farmer realities. As climate change threatens farming communities, we have gone further to strengthen their focus on continuous improvement in relation to the principles of regenerative agriculture throughout our field-level standard.”

BCI’s Principles & Criteria already covered soil health, biodiversity and natural habitats, water, pesticides and fertilisers use – plus, where relevant, livestock – and all these areas remain central to the standard.

The updated P&C strengthens the existing requirement of farmers to demonstrate continuous improvement by ensuring they place greater focus on regenerative agriculture when setting targets and annual activities.

Further updates to the field-level standard were made to the P&C’s management, natural resources, crop protection, and decent work sections to enhance clarity and auditability.

In June 2025, BCI announced that it would transition to become a regenerative standards system at its conference in Izmir, Türkiye. The updates to the field-level standard brought by v3.2 of the P&C are one element of this process, with further updates to other aspects of the Better Cotton Initiative Standards System planned to be implemented throughout 2026.