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	? 'Natural' (NOT a certification) Worldwide · Tier 4 Marketing	JAS Organic Japan · Tier 1 Gold	Fairtrade International Global · Tier 3 Specialty	$OEKO-TEX Standard 100 logo$ OEKO-TEX Standard 100 Global · Tier 3 Specialty
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.	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.	Certifies fair prices and conditions for producers in developing countries — not organic, not environmental. Common on coffee, cocoa, sugar, bananas, tea.	Tests finished textiles for harmful substances. Important: OEKO-TEX 100 is NOT an organic certification — it certifies that the finished item is free of certain chemicals, regardless of how the fibre was grown.
Scope	Several categories	Food	Food	Textiles
Established	—	2001	1997	1992
Inspection	None	Annual on-site by MAFF-registered certifier	Annual on-site by FLOCERT (independent of Fairtrade International)	Annual on-site + lab testing of finished products
Residue testing	None	Required for high-risk operations	Not for organic — Fairtrade alone doesn't test residues	Required (this is the entire point)
Guarantees	Nothing. It is not a certification and there is no body verifying anything.	≥95% organic ingredients. No synthetic pesticides, no synthetic fertilizers, no GMOs. Annual inspection by a MAFF-registered certifier.	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.	Finished textile tested against the OEKO-TEX harmful-substance limit list. Limits on heavy metals, formaldehyde, pesticide residue, banned amines, allergenic dyes.
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.	Mutual recognition with the US, EU, and Canada applies to specific product categories — check each agreement before importing.	Doesn't mean organic — many Fairtrade products are conventionally grown. A separate Fairtrade-Organic dual certification exists.	Does NOT mean organic. Does NOT cover farming, dyeing chemistry beyond the limit list, or social/labour standards. A 100% conventional cotton t-shirt can be OEKO-TEX 100 certified.

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