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	Nordic Swan Ecolabel Nordic Countries · Tier 3 Specialty	Global Organic Textile Standard Global · Tier 2 Trusted	Demeter International Global · Tier 2 Trusted	$OEKO-TEX Standard 100 logo$ OEKO-TEX Standard 100 Global · Tier 3 Specialty
What it means	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 strictest, most widely-recognised standard for organic textiles. Covers the full supply chain from organic fibre to finished garment, with environmental AND social criteria.	The certification mark for biodynamic agriculture. Stricter than any government organic standard: it covers the entire farm as a closed ecosystem, follows a planting calendar tied to lunar/solar cycles, and bans many practices the baseline organic rules permit.	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	Textiles	Several categories	Textiles
Established	1989	2002	1928	1992
Inspection	On-site + product review by national Ecolabel office	Annual on-site, IOAS-accredited	Annual on-site by Demeter-accredited inspectors	Annual on-site + lab testing of finished products
Residue testing	Risk-based per category	Required for finished products	Risk-based on top of organic	Required (this is the entire point)
Guarantees	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.	≥70% certified-organic natural fibre (the 'organic' grade requires ≥95%). Restricted dyes, no chlorine bleach, no formaldehyde, no banned heavy metals. Wastewater treatment requirements. Social standards based on ILO core conventions (no child labour, no forced labour, fair wages, safe workplace). Annual on-site inspection by IOAS-accredited certifier.	All organic standards PLUS biodynamic preparations and whole-farm planning. Whole-farm certification (not single fields/products). Annual on-site inspection by Demeter-accredited inspectors. Animal welfare standards stricter than baseline organic.	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 certify food as organic — Nordic Swan on a food package means lower-environmental-impact, not 'no synthetic pesticides'.	Doesn't cover non-textile components (zips, buttons, prints) beyond the chemical-restriction list.	Biodynamic philosophy includes esoteric elements (lunar planting, herbal preparations) that many scientists view as non-evidence-based — the agronomic outcomes are still good, the underlying claims about cosmic forces are not testable.	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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