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	? 'Natural' (NOT a certification) Worldwide · Tier 4 Marketing	Nordic Swan Ecolabel Nordic Countries · Tier 3 Specialty	EU Ecolabel (Flower) European Union · Tier 3 Specialty	Fairtrade International 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.	The official environmental label of the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland). Covers ~60 product categories from cleaning products to hotels — NOT specifically an organic standard.	The European Commission's voluntary environmental label. Covers cleaning products, paper, textiles, electronics, accommodation services. NOT an organic mark.	Certifies fair prices and conditions for producers in developing countries — not organic, not environmental. Common on coffee, cocoa, sugar, bananas, tea.
Scope	Several categories	Several categories	Several categories	Food
Established	—	1989	1992	1997
Inspection	None	On-site + product review by national Ecolabel office	Annual audit by national Ecolabel competent body	Annual on-site by FLOCERT (independent of Fairtrade International)
Residue testing	None	Risk-based per category	Per-category limits	Not for organic — Fairtrade alone doesn't test residues
Guarantees	Nothing. It is not a certification and there is no body verifying anything.	Lifecycle-based environmental criteria for the product category. Restrictions on hazardous chemicals. Recyclability and packaging requirements. Audited every 3-5 years against an updated standard.	Lifecycle-based environmental criteria per product category. Restrictions on hazardous chemicals. Annual licence renewal with audit.	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.
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 certify food as organic — Nordic Swan on a food package means lower-environmental-impact, not 'no synthetic pesticides'.	Doesn't apply to food. Doesn't mean organic.	Doesn't mean organic — many Fairtrade products are conventionally grown. A separate Fairtrade-Organic dual certification exists.

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