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	? 'Natural' (NOT a certification) Worldwide · Tier 4 Marketing	Bioland Germany · Tier 2 Trusted	EU Ecolabel (Flower) European Union · Tier 3 Specialty	JAS Organic Japan · Tier 1 Gold
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.	Germany's largest organic farmers' association. Bioland-certified farms operate to a stricter private standard than the EU baseline.	The European Commission's voluntary environmental label. Covers cleaning products, paper, textiles, electronics, accommodation services. NOT an organic mark.	Japan's national organic standard under the Japanese Agricultural Standard system. The mark must appear on any food sold as 'organic' (有機 or オーガニック) in Japan.
Scope	Several categories	Food	Several categories	Food
Established	—	1971	1992	2001
Inspection	None	Annual on-site by Bioland-accredited inspectors	Annual audit by national Ecolabel competent body	Annual on-site by MAFF-registered certifier
Residue testing	None	Required	Per-category limits	Required for high-risk operations
Guarantees	Nothing. It is not a certification and there is no body verifying anything.	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.	Lifecycle-based environmental criteria per product category. Restrictions on hazardous chemicals. Annual licence renewal with audit.	≥95% organic ingredients. No synthetic pesticides, no synthetic fertilizers, no GMOs. Annual inspection by a MAFF-registered certifier.
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.	Like Naturland, membership-based — only Bioland-association farms can use the mark.	Doesn't apply to food. Doesn't mean organic.	Mutual recognition with the US, EU, and Canada applies to specific product categories — check each agreement before importing.

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