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	COSMOS-Organic / Natural European Union · Tier 2 Trusted	Rainforest Alliance Global · Tier 3 Specialty	Bioland Germany · Tier 2 Trusted	AB (Agriculture Biologique) France · Tier 2 Trusted
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).	Sustainable-agriculture certification (post-2020 merged standard with UTZ). Covers environmental, social, and economic criteria. NOT an organic mark.	Germany's largest organic farmers' association. Bioland-certified farms operate to a stricter private standard than the EU baseline.	France's national organic mark, owned by the Ministry of Agriculture. Sits alongside the EU Leaf on virtually all French organic packaging.
Scope	Cosmetics	Food	Food	Food
Established	2010	1987	1971	1985
Inspection	Annual on-site by COSMOS-accredited certifier	Annual third-party audit (RA-accredited)	Annual on-site by Bioland-accredited inspectors	Annual on-site by French-accredited certifiers
Residue testing	Risk-based	Risk-based	Required	Risk-based
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.	Reduced (not eliminated) synthetic pesticide use, with bans on the most hazardous classes. Forest conservation requirements (no deforestation after the cut-off date). Worker welfare and community development requirements. Annual third-party audit.	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.	EU baseline organic (EU 2018/848). Annual on-site inspection by accredited French certifiers (Ecocert, Bureau Veritas, Qualité-France).
Does NOT	Doesn't certify clinical effectiveness or skin tolerance.	Allows synthetic pesticides — does NOT meet any organic standard. Often confused with organic but it's a different programme.	Like Naturland, membership-based — only Bioland-association farms can use the mark.	Same standard as the EU Leaf — AB is the brand consumers recognise, not a stricter rule.

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