All certifications

Side-by-side

Compare certifications.

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

	Demeter International Global · Tier 2 Trusted	Fair for Life Global · Tier 2 Trusted	Fairtrade International Global · Tier 3 Specialty	COSMOS-Organic / Natural European Union · Tier 2 Trusted
What it means	The certification mark for biodynamic agriculture. Stricter than any government organic standard: it covers the entire farm as a closed ecosystem, follows a planting calendar tied to lunar/solar cycles, and bans many practices the baseline organic rules permit.	Combined organic + fair-trade + social-responsibility certification. Issued by Ecocert (originally developed by IMOswiss). Stricter than baseline Fairtrade on labour conditions; often paired with an organic mark on the same product.	Certifies fair prices and conditions for producers in developing countries — not organic, not environmental. Common on coffee, cocoa, sugar, bananas, tea.	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	Several categories	Several categories	Food	Cosmetics
Established	1928	2006	1997	2010
Inspection	Annual on-site by Demeter-accredited inspectors	Annual on-site, Ecocert-administered	Annual on-site by FLOCERT (independent of Fairtrade International)	Annual on-site by COSMOS-accredited certifier
Residue testing	Risk-based on top of organic	Risk-based	Not for organic — Fairtrade alone doesn't test residues	Risk-based
Guarantees	All organic standards PLUS biodynamic preparations and whole-farm planning. Whole-farm certification (not single fields/products). Annual on-site inspection by Demeter-accredited inspectors. Animal welfare standards stricter than baseline organic.	Fair pricing for producers. Compliance with ILO core conventions on labour rights, no forced or child labour. Environmental criteria including organic-or-equivalent farming practices. Annual on-site audit by Ecocert.	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.	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	Biodynamic philosophy includes esoteric elements (lunar planting, herbal preparations) that many scientists view as non-evidence-based — the agronomic outcomes are still good, the underlying claims about cosmic forces are not testable.	Doesn't itself mean organic — pair with an organic mark for the full picture.	Doesn't mean organic — many Fairtrade products are conventionally grown. A separate Fairtrade-Organic dual certification exists.	Doesn't certify clinical effectiveness or skin tolerance.

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