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AB (Agriculture Biologique) logo
AB (Agriculture Biologique)
France · Tier 2 Trusted
Fairtrade International logo
Fairtrade International
Global · Tier 3 Specialty
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'Natural' (NOT a certification)
Worldwide · Tier 4 Marketing
What it meansFrance's national organic mark, owned by the Ministry of Agriculture. Sits alongside the EU Leaf on virtually all French organic packaging.Certifies fair prices and conditions for producers in developing countries — not organic, not environmental. Common on coffee, cocoa, sugar, bananas, tea.The word 'natural' on packaging is a marketing term, not a certification. In most jurisdictions there's no legal definition, no standard, and no inspection. A product labelled 'natural' can contain synthetic ingredients, pesticides, GMOs, and artificial flavours.
ScopeFoodFoodSeveral categories
Established19851997—
InspectionAnnual on-site by French-accredited certifiersAnnual on-site by FLOCERT (independent of Fairtrade International)None
Residue testingRisk-basedNot for organic — Fairtrade alone doesn't test residuesNone
Guarantees
  • EU baseline organic (EU 2018/848).
  • Annual on-site inspection by accredited French certifiers (Ecocert, Bureau Veritas, Qualité-France).
  • Minimum price floors for producer cooperatives.
  • Fairtrade Premium paid into community-development funds.
  • Bans on the worst forms of child and forced labour.
  • Producer organisations must be small-farmer cooperatives or hired-labour plantations meeting standards.
  • Nothing. It is not a certification and there is no body verifying anything.
Does NOT
  • Same standard as the EU Leaf — AB is the brand consumers recognise, not a stricter rule.
  • Doesn't mean organic — many Fairtrade products are conventionally grown. A separate Fairtrade-Organic dual certification exists.
  • Doesn't mean organic. Doesn't mean pesticide-free. Doesn't mean GMO-free. Doesn't mean ethically produced.
  • Some markets (e.g. the US FDA on food, EU on cosmetics) place very limited restrictions on the word, but enforcement is weak.

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