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	? 'Natural' (NOT a certification) Worldwide · Tier 4 Marketing	EU Ecolabel (Flower) European Union · Tier 3 Specialty	Bioland Germany · Tier 2 Trusted	China Organic (COFCC) China · 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.	The European Commission's voluntary environmental label. Covers cleaning products, paper, textiles, electronics, accommodation services. NOT an organic mark.	Germany's largest organic farmers' association. Bioland-certified farms operate to a stricter private standard than the EU baseline.	China's national organic certification under the Certification and Accreditation Administration. Mandatory on any product sold as '有机' (organic) in mainland China.
Scope	Several categories	Several categories	Food	Food
Established	—	1992	1971	2005
Inspection	None	Annual audit by national Ecolabel competent body	Annual on-site by Bioland-accredited inspectors	Annual on-site by CNCA-accredited certifier
Residue testing	None	Per-category limits	Required	Required
Guarantees	Nothing. It is not a certification and there is no body verifying anything.	Lifecycle-based environmental criteria per product category. Restrictions on hazardous chemicals. Annual licence renewal with 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.	≥95% organic ingredients. No synthetic pesticides, no GMOs. Annual third-party certification. Each certified product carries a unique 17-digit traceability code.
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.	Doesn't apply to food. Doesn't mean organic.	Like Naturland, membership-based — only Bioland-association farms can use the mark.	Imported organic foods must be re-certified under the Chinese standard — overseas certifications alone are not accepted for the 有机 label.

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