All companies with valid Oeko-Tex® certification are authorised to mark their certified products with the Oeko-Tex® label. A finished textile product may only be marked with its own Oeko-Tex® label if all components satisfy the required test criteria without exception.

In order to keep the additional cost of Oeko-Tex® certification within a manageable framework for garment manufacturers, too, the Oeko-Tex® system therefore permits the use of source materials which already have Oeko-Tex® certification.

Each garment manufacturer must itself be actively involved in the Oeko-Tex® certification system at its stage of processing in order to be authorised to mark its products with its own licence number. The end product must not be marked either with several Oeko-Tex® labels or with an existing certificate number of already certified individual components.

The contractual involvement ensures that the garment manufacturer does not only satisfy the requirements of the Oeko-Tex® criteria catalogue for his products in individual job-related cases, but that the required product safety is consistently integrated in the company's quality assurance system.