HFGA EU Hemp Textile Standard

This standard specifies the quality, processing, chemical, and traceability requirements for industrial hemp bast fiber placed on the EU market as a textile feedstock — whether grown in the EU or imported. It mirrors HFGA-TX-US-01 clause for clause so that a single supply chain can satisfy both.

• Applies to: retted hemp straw, decorticated line fiber, tow, cottonized and degummed fiber intended for textile use and supplied to or within the EU.
• Does not apply to: hurd/shiv for construction, hemp grain and grain products, or finished yarn, fabric, and garments.
• Conformity is assessed per lot and attaches to the lot ID, not to the supplier.
• Imported fiber is eligible. A lot conforming to HFGA-TX-US-01 satisfies Clauses 5, 6, 8, and 9 of this standard directly; Clauses 4 and 7 must be re-evidenced against EU law.

• Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 — CAP Strategic Plans Regulation, Article 4(4): hemp varieties and the 0.3 percent THC limit.
• Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH), in particular Annex XVII restrictions.
• Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 — Persistent Organic Pollutants.
• Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 — Textile fibre names and labelling.
• Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 — Ecodesign for Sustainable Products (ESPR), Digital Product Passport provisions.
• Directive (EU) 2024/825 — Empowering consumers for the green transition (environmental claims).
• EN ISO 2370 — Determination of fineness of flax fibres, airflow method.
• ISO 5079 — Textile fibres: determination of breaking force and elongation of individual fibres.
• EN ISO 6741-1 — Determination of mass loss on drying (moisture).
• ISO 1130 — Textile fibres: sampling methods for testing.
• EN ISO/IEC 17025 — Competence of testing and calibration laboratories.
• HFGA-TM-01 — Gravimetric determination of residual shive and foreign matter.

The definitions of HFGA-TX-US-01 Clause 3 apply without modification (bast fiber, hurd/shive, retting, line fiber, tow, cottonized fiber, lot, conforming lot), with the following additions.

For EU-grown fiber, all of the following shall be met at harvest. For imported fiber, the equivalent evidence from the country of origin plus items 2 and 5 shall be provided.

1. 1.Grown from certified seed of a variety in the EU common catalogue, with the official seed labels retained per Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 Article 4(4).
2. 2.Delta-9 THC content of the variety not exceeding 0.3 percent, with the Member State control result retained where sampling was performed.
3. 3.The parcel declared under the applicable CAP area-aid scheme, with the parcel geolocation recorded against every lot.
4. 4.Only plant protection products authorised for hemp in the Member State of production applied, within their authorised conditions of use.
5. 5.Straw baled at 15 percent moisture or below and stored under cover until decortication.

Grades EU-A, EU-B, and EU-C carry the same thresholds as US grades TX-A, TX-B, and TX-C. EN ISO methods are used in place of the ASTM equivalents; results from either method family are accepted.

Clause 6 of HFGA-TX-US-01 applies, with the following EU-specific additions.

• Permitted methods: field (dew) retting, controlled tank or water retting, enzymatic retting, and steam explosion.
• Retting effluent shall be managed in line with the Urban Waste Water and Industrial Emissions regimes as transposed in the Member State of processing; discharge of untreated effluent to surface water disqualifies the lot.
• Chlorine bleaching is not permitted. Peroxide and ozone chemistry only.
• Process chemistry shall be screened against the ZDHC MRSL where the processor already operates to it — alignment is encouraged and recorded, but not required for conformity.
• Retting degree recorded against the HFGA visual reference set and reported with the lot.

EU restricted-substance requirements replace, rather than supplement, Clause 7 of the US standard. Compliance with REACH Annex XVII is a precondition, not an option.

1. 1.Lot ID format: HFGA-EU-<country code>-<year>-<producer ID>-<lot sequence>, physically tagged on every bale.
2. 2.Field record: seed variety and official seed label reference, parcel geolocation, planting and harvest dates, THC control result where sampled.
3. 3.Process record: retting method and degree, decortication site and date, refining or bleaching chemistry.
4. 4.Transfer record: chain-of-custody document at every change of ownership, naming the economic operator taking title.
5. 5.Mass balance reconciling input straw to output fiber within ±3 percent.
6. 6.The lot record is maintained in a structured, machine-readable form so that its fields can be emitted directly into a Digital Product Passport when the ESPR delegated act for textiles applies.
7. 7.Records retained for five years from the date of final sale, aligning with the longer of the EU documentary retention periods likely to apply.

Sampling per ISO 1130, from a minimum of 10 percent of bales with a minimum of three bales. Testing by a laboratory accredited to EN ISO/IEC 17025 for the method.

• Permitted claim form: "Conforms to HFGA EU Hemp Textile Standard (HFGA-TX-EU-01), Grade EU-A" — naming standard code, version, and grade.
• Fibre naming on downstream products follows Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011: the fibre name is "hemp", with blend composition stated by mass percentage.
• Environmental claims made alongside the conformity claim shall be substantiated and specific, per Directive (EU) 2024/825. Conformity with this standard is not, by itself, a sustainability claim.
• The HFGA conformity mark is licensed at no charge to lots with a complete Clause 9 record — no membership, audit, or per-tonne fee.
• The claim attaches to lot IDs, never to a company, facility, or brand.

The two textile standards share one grade architecture so that fiber, test reports, and lot records travel across the Atlantic without regrading.

• Maintained by the HFGA Standards Technical Committee, with EU-based grower, processor, mill, and laboratory representation.
• Issued for a 60-day public comment period before ratification; every comment receives a written disposition.
• Reviewed on a three-year cycle, or sooner where EU law changes — in particular the ESPR textile delegated act and any PFAS restriction entering into force.
• Grade thresholds are changed only in lockstep with HFGA-TX-US-01, to preserve the equivalence in Clause 11.
• Comments to standards@hfga.io.