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	? 'Natural' (NOT a certification) Worldwide · Tier 4 Marketing	Nordic Swan Ecolabel Nordic Countries · Tier 3 Specialty	Rainforest Alliance Global · 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.	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.	Sustainable-agriculture certification (post-2020 merged standard with UTZ). Covers environmental, social, and economic criteria. 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	Several categories	Food	Food
Established	—	1989	1987	2001
Inspection	None	On-site + product review by national Ecolabel office	Annual third-party audit (RA-accredited)	Annual on-site by MAFF-registered certifier
Residue testing	None	Risk-based per category	Risk-based	Required for high-risk operations
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.	Reduced (not eliminated) synthetic pesticide use, with bans on the most hazardous classes. Forest conservation requirements (no deforestation after the cut-off date). Worker welfare and community development requirements. Annual third-party 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.	Doesn't certify food as organic — Nordic Swan on a food package means lower-environmental-impact, not 'no synthetic pesticides'.	Allows synthetic pesticides — does NOT meet any organic standard. Often confused with organic but it's a different programme.	Mutual recognition with the US, EU, and Canada applies to specific product categories — check each agreement before importing.

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