All certifications

Side-by-side

Compare certifications.

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

	Bioland Germany · Tier 2 Trusted	COSMOS-Organic / Natural European Union · Tier 2 Trusted	USDA Organic United States · Tier 1 Gold	Tún (Iceland) Iceland · 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 leading certification for organic cosmetics in Europe. Two grades: COSMOS Organic (≥95% organic agricultural ingredients) and COSMOS Natural (no organic minimum, but the same restricted-ingredient list).	The US Department of Agriculture's national organic standard. The green-and-white seal is the legal mark for any food sold as 'organic' in the United States.	Vottunarstofan Tún is Iceland's only accredited organic certifier. Accredited by MAST (Matvælastofnun) under the EU 2018/848-equivalent Icelandic standard, so a Tún-certified product is also recognised as EU-organic.
Scope	Food	Cosmetics	Food	Food
Established	1971	2010	2002	1994
Inspection	Annual on-site by Bioland-accredited inspectors	Annual on-site by COSMOS-accredited certifier	Annual on-site by USDA-accredited certifier	Annual on-site, MAST-accredited
Residue testing	Required	Risk-based	Required on ≥5% of operations annually	Required for at-risk operations
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.	COSMOS Organic: ≥95% organic agricultural ingredients. COSMOS Natural: minimum natural-origin ingredients with banned synthetic restrictions. No GMOs, no parabens, no PEGs, no synthetic fragrances, no SLS/SLES. Biodegradability requirements. Annual on-site audit.	At least 95% of ingredients are certified organic (the '100% Organic' variant requires every ingredient). No synthetic pesticides, no synthetic fertilizers, no GMOs, no sewage sludge, no irradiation. Annual on-site inspection by a USDA-accredited certifier. Residue testing on at least 5% of certified operations each year.	≥95% organic ingredients per EU rules. No synthetic pesticides, no GMOs. Annual on-site inspection. Animal welfare standards (outdoor / pasture access, geothermally-warmed greenhouse compatibility for vegetables).
Does NOT	Like Naturland, membership-based — only Bioland-association farms can use the mark.	Doesn't certify clinical effectiveness or skin tolerance.	Doesn't certify nutrition, taste, or animal welfare specifically (separate marks like AWA cover welfare). Doesn't guarantee local production — a 'USDA Organic' product can be grown anywhere with an accredited inspector.	There aren't many Tún-certified operations (~120–160) — coverage in the Icelandic market is narrower than in the EU mainland.

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