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	? 'Natural' (NOT a certification) Worldwide · Tier 4 Marketing	Soil Association Organic United Kingdom · Tier 2 Trusted	JAS Organic Japan · Tier 1 Gold	Rainforest Alliance 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 UK's largest organic certifier. Standards are stricter than the UK government's baseline (which still mirrors EU 2018/848 post-Brexit). Recognised by the EU and USA under equivalence.	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.	Sustainable-agriculture certification (post-2020 merged standard with UTZ). Covers environmental, social, and economic criteria. NOT an organic mark.
Scope	Several categories	Several categories	Food	Food
Established	—	1946	2001	1987
Inspection	None	Annual on-site, UKAS-accredited	Annual on-site by MAFF-registered certifier	Annual third-party audit (RA-accredited)
Residue testing	None	Risk-based	Required for high-risk operations	Risk-based
Guarantees	Nothing. It is not a certification and there is no body verifying anything.	Stricter-than-baseline organic standards across food, textiles, cosmetics, and farming. Annual on-site inspection. Animal welfare standards (outdoor access, lower stocking density).	≥95% organic ingredients. No synthetic pesticides, no synthetic fertilizers, no GMOs. Annual inspection by a MAFF-registered certifier.	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.
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.	Logo is trademarked — not a free-licence mark.	Mutual recognition with the US, EU, and Canada applies to specific product categories — check each agreement before importing.	Allows synthetic pesticides — does NOT meet any organic standard. Often confused with organic but it's a different programme.

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