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	Nordic Swan Ecolabel Nordic Countries · Tier 3 Specialty	Rainforest Alliance Global · Tier 3 Specialty	COSMOS-Organic / Natural European Union · Tier 2 Trusted	JAS Organic Japan · Tier 1 Gold
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.	Sustainable-agriculture certification (post-2020 merged standard with UTZ). Covers environmental, social, and economic criteria. NOT an organic mark.	The leading certification for organic cosmetics in Europe. Two grades: COSMOS Organic (≥95% organic agricultural ingredients) and COSMOS Natural (no organic minimum, but the same restricted-ingredient list).	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	Food	Cosmetics	Food
Established	1989	1987	2010	2001
Inspection	On-site + product review by national Ecolabel office	Annual third-party audit (RA-accredited)	Annual on-site by COSMOS-accredited certifier	Annual on-site by MAFF-registered certifier
Residue testing	Risk-based per category	Risk-based	Risk-based	Required for high-risk operations
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.	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.	COSMOS Organic: ≥95% organic agricultural ingredients. COSMOS Natural: minimum natural-origin ingredients with banned synthetic restrictions. No GMOs, no parabens, no PEGs, no synthetic fragrances, no SLS/SLES. Biodegradability requirements. Annual on-site audit.	≥95% organic ingredients. No synthetic pesticides, no synthetic fertilizers, no GMOs. Annual inspection by a MAFF-registered certifier.
Does NOT	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.	Doesn't certify clinical effectiveness or skin tolerance.	Mutual recognition with the US, EU, and Canada applies to specific product categories — check each agreement before importing.

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