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	Fair for Life Global · Tier 2 Trusted	Fairtrade International Global · Tier 3 Specialty	Bio Suisse 'Knospe' (Bud) Switzerland · Tier 2 Trusted	COSMOS-Organic / Natural European Union · Tier 2 Trusted
What it means	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 Swiss organic farmers' federation mark. The Knospe (Bud) is the dominant organic mark in Swiss supermarkets and operates to standards stricter than the Swiss federal organic ordinance.	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	Food	Food	Cosmetics
Established	2006	1997	1981	2010
Inspection	Annual on-site, Ecocert-administered	Annual on-site by FLOCERT (independent of Fairtrade International)	Annual on-site, bio.inspecta accredited	Annual on-site by COSMOS-accredited certifier
Residue testing	Risk-based	Not for organic — Fairtrade alone doesn't test residues	Required	Risk-based
Guarantees	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.	Whole-farm conversion. Lower nitrogen inputs than the Swiss federal organic baseline. Strong animal welfare requirements. 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.
Does NOT	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.	Switzerland is outside the EU — the Knospe is recognised by the EU under the Switzerland-EU equivalence agreement, but not by USDA without further certification.	Doesn't certify clinical effectiveness or skin tolerance.

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