Konstantinos V. Markou S.A Become The Second Laboratory Certified Under The Ica Bremen

Konstantinos V. Markou S.A. joins Cotton South Africa to become the second laboratory certified under the ICA Bremen ‘International Laboratory Certification Scheme’.

Designed to raise the bar in the quality testing arena, the aim of the scheme is to establish an approved list of laboratories worldwide that meet a standard level of quality assurance.

On receiving the news, Loukas Despotis, Quality Control Manager at Konstantinos V. Markou S.A. said; “Here at Konstantinos V. Markou S.A., quality control is the cornerstone of our operations since all cotton that we produce and trade is controlled, certified and categorised before storing or loading through our modern and fully equipped laboratory in order to reward our suppliers for their quality and to secure that our customers can base their operations on the reliability, uniformity and the homogeneity of our products.

“We hereby thank ICA Bremen for its initiative to create certified cotton laboratories across the world, subject to the best world recognised testing practices, which Konstantinos V. Markou S.A. immediately embraced to enhance and expand our quality control operations, certify our commitment to reliability of our quality assurance standards, and hopefully attract world spinners to purchase and use our cotton bales and services to spin the best of their yarn products. Because here at Konstantinos V. Markou S.A., quality matters.”

Following Konstantinos V. Markou S.A’s certification, James Knowlton of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said: “Global standardisation of cotton testing practices is essential for providing consistent and reliable cotton quality measurements in the international marketplace. The ICA Bremen certification scheme promotes the standardisation effort and cotton testing labs such as Konstantinos V. Markou S.A. demonstrate proficiency by meeting the certification criteria.”

ICA Bremen has developed the scheme based on its own laboratory experience, as well as the good practices of the USDA, CSITC (Commercial Standardisation of Instrument Testing of Cotton) and ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials).

Open to any international cotton testing laboratory, participating laboratories have to meet a level of quality assurance based on eight specific criteria, including conditioning, maintenance, calibration and testing procedures.

Sixteen laboratories are currently in the process of assessment. Once certified, they will become a ‘laboratory of choice’ to resolve quality disputes in line with the ICA Bylaws & Rules, as well as providing a service to the cotton industry.