Digital Cotton Facility Record

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Please note that this content is under development and is not ready for implementation. This status message will be updated as content development progresses.

Overview

The Digital Cotton Facility Record is a textile-specific extension of the UNTP Digital Facility Record designed specifically for facilities involved in the cotton value chain. It provides a standardized structure for representing cotton facilities, from cotton farms through to garment manufacturing facilities, enabling traceability, sustainability claims, and compliance verification.

The Digital Cotton Facility Record schema extends the base UNTP Digital Facility Record specification and establishes specific usage requirements for cotton facility classification using ISIC Rev.4 codes.

Implementers should familiarize themselves with the UNTP Digital Facility Record specification before implementing Digital Cotton Facility Records.

Facility Classification Requirements

ISIC Rev.4 Classification

Digital Cotton Facility Records MUST use the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Revision 4 (ISIC Rev.4) classification scheme for facility classification in the processCategory property.

ISIC Rev.4 provides a standardized international classification for economic activities, ensuring interoperability and consistency across international trade, regulatory reporting, and supply chain systems.

Valid ISIC Rev.4 Codes for Cotton Facilities

The following ISIC Rev.4 codes are valid for use in Digital Cotton Facility Records to differentiate facility types:

ISIC Code	Facility Type	Description	Value Chain Stage
0116	Cotton Farms	Growing of fibre crops	Primary Production
0163	Cotton Gins	Post-harvest crop activities (ginning)	Primary Processing
1311	Spinning Mills	Preparation and spinning of textile fibres	Textile Manufacturing
1312	Weaving Mills	Weaving of textiles	Textile Manufacturing
1313	Dyeing/Finishing Facilities	Finishing of textiles	Textile Processing
1410	Garment Factories	Manufacture of wearing apparel	Final Manufacturing

Classification Scheme Reference

The official ISIC Rev.4 classification details can be accessed at: https://unstats.un.org/unsd/classifications/Econ/isic

Implementation Requirements

When implementing the processCategory property in a Digital Cotton Facility Record, the following requirements apply:

1. Scheme Identification: The schemeID property MUST be set to the ISIC Rev.4 scheme identifier:

   "schemeID": "https://unstats.un.org/unsd/classifications/Econ/isic"

2. Scheme Name: The schemeName property MUST be set to:

   "schemeName": "International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Revision 4"

3. Code Format: The code property MUST contain one of the valid ISIC Rev.4 codes (0116, 0163, 1311, 1312, 1313, or 1410) as a string.

4. ID Format: The id property SHOULD be constructed as a URI following the pattern:

   "id": "https://unstats.un.org/unsd/classifications/Econ/isic/{code}"

   Where {code} is the specific ISIC code (e.g., 0116, 0163, etc.).

5. Name: The name property MUST contain the official ISIC Rev.4 name corresponding to the selected code as listed in the table above.

Example Classification Usage

The following examples demonstrate the correct usage of ISIC Rev.4 classification in Digital Cotton Facility Records:

Example 1: Cotton Farm

{
  "credentialSubject": {
    "type": "FacilityRecord",
    "facility": {
      "type": "Facility",
      "id": "https://cotton-register.example.com/farms/12345",
      "name": "Green Valley Cotton Farm",
      "processCategory": [
        {
          "type": "Classification",
          "id": "https://unstats.un.org/unsd/classifications/Econ/isic/0116",
          "code": "0116",
          "name": "Growing of fibre crops",
          "schemeID": "https://unstats.un.org/unsd/classifications/Econ/isic",
          "schemeName": "International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Revision 4"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Example 2: Cotton Ginning Facility

{
  "credentialSubject": {
    "type": "FacilityRecord",
    "facility": {
      "type": "Facility",
      "id": "https://cotton-register.example.com/gins/67890",
      "name": "Central Valley Cotton Gin",
      "processCategory": [
        {
          "type": "Classification",
          "id": "https://unstats.un.org/unsd/classifications/Econ/isic/0163",
          "code": "0163",
          "name": "Post-harvest crop activities",
          "schemeID": "https://unstats.un.org/unsd/classifications/Econ/isic",
          "schemeName": "International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Revision 4"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Example 3: Spinning Mill

{
  "credentialSubject": {
    "type": "FacilityRecord",
    "facility": {
      "type": "Facility",
      "id": "https://cotton-register.example.com/mills/spinning-001",
      "name": "Premium Cotton Spinning Mill",
      "processCategory": [
        {
          "type": "Classification",
          "id": "https://unstats.un.org/unsd/classifications/Econ/isic/1311",
          "code": "1311",
          "name": "Preparation and spinning of textile fibres",
          "schemeID": "https://unstats.un.org/unsd/classifications/Econ/isic",
          "schemeName": "International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Revision 4"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Multiple Classifications

A facility MAY have multiple processCategory entries if it legitimately performs multiple economic activities. For example, a facility that both spins and weaves cotton textiles might include both ISIC codes 1311 and 1312. However, at least one classification MUST be from the valid ISIC Rev.4 codes listed above for cotton facilities.

Facility Type Identification

When querying or filtering Digital Cotton Facility Records, implementers can use the processCategory array to identify facility types:

• Primary Production Facilities: ISIC code 0116 (Cotton Farms)
• Primary Processing Facilities: ISIC code 0163 (Cotton Gins)
• Textile Manufacturing Facilities: ISIC codes 1311 (Spinning), 1312 (Weaving), 1313 (Dyeing/Finishing)
• Final Manufacturing Facilities: ISIC code 1410 (Garment Factories)

This classification enables:

• Value chain mapping and traceability
• Regulatory compliance reporting
• Sustainability assessment by facility type
• Supply chain risk assessment
• Certification and audit processes

Relationship to Digital Cotton Passport

Digital Cotton Facility Records complement Digital Cotton Passports by providing facility-level information that supports product-level claims. When a Digital Cotton Passport references a facility (through the producedAtFacility property or similar), verifiers can:

1. Resolve the facility identifier to access the Digital Cotton Facility Record
2. Verify facility-level certifications and compliance status
3. Validate facility-level sustainability metrics
4. Perform mass-balance assessments between facility-level and product-level data

This relationship enables comprehensive traceability and due diligence across the cotton value chain.

Design Rationale

Single Unified Schema Approach

The Digital Cotton Facility Record uses a single unified schema that covers all facility types across the cotton value chain. This design decision was made to:

1. Simplify Implementation: A single schema reduces complexity for implementers and reduces the need to maintain multiple schemas for different facility types.

2. Maintain Consistency: Using one schema ensures consistent structure and validation rules across all cotton facilities, regardless of their position in the value chain.

3. Enable Interoperability: A unified approach facilitates easier data exchange and integration between different systems and stakeholders in the cotton supply chain.

4. Support Flexibility: The schema's extensible nature allows for facility-specific attributes to be added as needed without requiring schema changes.

5. Reduce Maintenance Burden: Maintaining a single schema reduces the overhead of versioning, documentation, and validation tooling.

Facility Type Differentiation

Facility types are differentiated through the use of ISIC Rev.4 (International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Revision 4) classification codes in the processCategory property. This approach:

• Uses internationally recognized and standardized classification codes
• Enables automated categorization and filtering of facilities by type
• Supports regulatory reporting and compliance requirements
• Allows for clear identification of facility capabilities and processes

Future Extensibility

While the current implementation uses a single unified schema, the design acknowledges that specific facility record types may be implemented in the future if operational requirements dictate this need. Such specialized schemas might be developed if:

• Attribute-Specific Requirements: Certain facility types require attributes that are not applicable to other facility types (e.g., farm-specific attributes like irrigation systems, soil management practices, or ginning-specific attributes like gin stand configurations).

• Regulatory Requirements: Specific regulations or standards may require facility-type-specific data structures or validation rules that cannot be accommodated within the unified schema.

• Industry Practices: Industry-specific practices or certifications may require specialized data models for particular facility types.

• Performance Optimization: Large-scale implementations may benefit from more focused schemas that reduce payload size and processing overhead.

If such requirements emerge, the extension will follow a similar pattern to other UNTP extensions, creating specialized schemas (e.g., DigitalCottonFarmRecord, DigitalCottonGinningRecord) that extend or profile the base Digital Cotton Facility Record while maintaining interoperability through shared core structures.

Future Development

As the Digital Cotton Facility Record specification evolves through working groups and pilot programs, additional cotton-specific requirements and extensions may be added. This documentation will be updated to reflect those changes.

The roadmap for future development includes:

• Facility-specific attribute extensions (e.g., farm management practices, ginning equipment specifications)
• Enhanced sustainability metrics specific to cotton facilities
• Integration with cotton-specific certification schemes
• Support for multi-facility operations and facility hierarchies
• Specialized facility record types if operational requirements dictate (see Design Rationale section)