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	Canada Organic Biologique Canada · Tier 1 Gold	Nordic Swan Ecolabel Nordic Countries · Tier 3 Specialty	? 'Natural' (NOT a certification) Worldwide · Tier 4 Marketing	COSMOS-Organic / Natural European Union · Tier 2 Trusted
What it means	The federal Canadian organic standard, mandatory on any agricultural product sold across provincial borders or imported as 'organic'.	The official environmental label of the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland). Covers ~60 product categories from cleaning products to hotels — NOT specifically an organic standard.	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 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).
Scope	Food	Several categories	Several categories	Cosmetics
Established	2009	1989	—	2010
Inspection	Annual on-site by CFIA-accredited certifier	On-site + product review by national Ecolabel office	None	Annual on-site by COSMOS-accredited certifier
Residue testing	Risk-based, conducted by accredited certifiers	Risk-based per category	None	Risk-based
Guarantees	≥95% organic ingredients (single-ingredient products: 100%). No synthetic pesticides, no GMOs, no irradiation. Annual third-party certification under the Canada Organic Regime.	Lifecycle-based environmental criteria for the product category. Restrictions on hazardous chemicals. Recyclability and packaging requirements. Audited every 3-5 years against an updated standard.	Nothing. It is not a certification and there is no body verifying anything.	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.
Does NOT	Provincial sales-only operations are not legally required to carry it (though many do voluntarily).	Doesn't certify food as organic — Nordic Swan on a food package means lower-environmental-impact, not 'no synthetic pesticides'.	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.	Doesn't certify clinical effectiveness or skin tolerance.

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