All certifications

Side-by-side

Compare certifications.

Up to four certifications, side by side. Choose which ones

	Bioland Germany · Tier 2 Trusted	Bio Suisse 'Knospe' (Bud) Switzerland · Tier 2 Trusted	? 'Natural' (NOT a certification) Worldwide · Tier 4 Marketing	Canada Organic Biologique Canada · Tier 1 Gold
What it means	Germany's largest organic farmers' association. Bioland-certified farms operate to a stricter private standard than the EU baseline.	The Swiss organic farmers' federation mark. The Knospe (Bud) is the dominant organic mark in Swiss supermarkets and operates to standards stricter than the Swiss federal organic ordinance.	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.	The federal Canadian organic standard, mandatory on any agricultural product sold across provincial borders or imported as 'organic'.
Scope	Food	Food	Several categories	Food
Established	1971	1981	—	2009
Inspection	Annual on-site by Bioland-accredited inspectors	Annual on-site, bio.inspecta accredited	None	Annual on-site by CFIA-accredited certifier
Residue testing	Required	Required	None	Risk-based, conducted by accredited certifiers
Guarantees	Whole-farm conversion (no parallel conventional production). Lower permitted nitrogen inputs than EU baseline. Animal welfare standards stricter than EU baseline. Annual on-site inspection.	Whole-farm conversion. Lower nitrogen inputs than the Swiss federal organic baseline. Strong animal welfare requirements. Annual on-site inspection.	Nothing. It is not a certification and there is no body verifying anything.	≥95% organic ingredients (single-ingredient products: 100%). No synthetic pesticides, no GMOs, no irradiation. Annual third-party certification under the Canada Organic Regime.
Does NOT	Like Naturland, membership-based — only Bioland-association farms can use the mark.	Switzerland is outside the EU — the Knospe is recognised by the EU under the Switzerland-EU equivalence agreement, but not by USDA without further certification.	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.	Provincial sales-only operations are not legally required to carry it (though many do voluntarily).

Choose up to 4 (4 chosen)

That's four — remove one to add another.

Stay in the loop

Get notified when we publish new articles, updates, and organic guides. No spam, just honest content, straight to your inbox.

Compare certifications · Organic.is