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	? 'Natural' (NOT a certification) Worldwide · Tier 4 Marketing	AB (Agriculture Biologique) France · Tier 2 Trusted	ECO Ecocert France · Tier 2 Trusted	Bioland Germany · Tier 2 Trusted
What it means	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.	France's national organic mark, owned by the Ministry of Agriculture. Sits alongside the EU Leaf on virtually all French organic packaging.	France-based independent certifier operating in 130+ countries. One of the world's largest organic + cosmetics + textile certifiers. The 'Ecocert' wordmark on a package usually means Ecocert was the accredited body that ran the inspection against the national/EU standard.	Germany's largest organic farmers' association. Bioland-certified farms operate to a stricter private standard than the EU baseline.
Scope	Several categories	Food	Several categories	Food
Established	—	1985	1991	1971
Inspection	None	Annual on-site by French-accredited certifiers	Annual on-site, ISO 17065-accredited	Annual on-site by Bioland-accredited inspectors
Residue testing	None	Risk-based	Risk-based per standard	Required
Guarantees	Nothing. It is not a certification and there is no body verifying anything.	EU baseline organic (EU 2018/848). Annual on-site inspection by accredited French certifiers (Ecocert, Bureau Veritas, Qualité-France).	Inspection against the relevant national or private organic standard (EU 2018/848, USDA NOP, COSMOS, GOTS, Fair for Life, etc.). Annual on-site inspection. Accredited under multiple national systems including USDA NOP and EU 2018/848.	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.
Does NOT	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.	Same standard as the EU Leaf — AB is the brand consumers recognise, not a stricter rule.	Ecocert is the certifier, not the standard — the actual rules come from whichever organic regulation the product is certified under.	Like Naturland, membership-based — only Bioland-association farms can use the mark.

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