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	COSMOS-Organic / Natural European Union · Tier 2 Trusted	Naturland Germany · Tier 2 Trusted	Fairtrade International Global · Tier 3 Specialty	? 'Natural' (NOT a certification) Worldwide · Tier 4 Marketing
What it means	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).	A German farmers' association whose private organic standard is stricter than the EU baseline. Covers food, aquaculture, textiles, and cosmetics. Recognised globally.	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.
Scope	Cosmetics	Several categories	Food	Several categories
Established	2010	1982	1997	—
Inspection	Annual on-site by COSMOS-accredited certifier	Annual on-site by Naturland-accredited inspectors	Annual on-site by FLOCERT (independent of Fairtrade International)	None
Residue testing	Risk-based	Required	Not for organic — Fairtrade alone doesn't test residues	None
Guarantees	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.	Stricter than EU 2018/848 (lower nitrogen inputs, full-farm conversion, social standards). Annual on-site inspection. Fair-pricing requirements for member farmers.	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	Doesn't certify clinical effectiveness or skin tolerance.	Membership-based — only farms that join the Naturland association can use the mark.	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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