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	$OEKO-TEX Standard 100 logo$ OEKO-TEX Standard 100 Global · Tier 3 Specialty	? 'Natural' (NOT a certification) Worldwide · Tier 4 Marketing	Fairtrade International Global · Tier 3 Specialty	JAS Organic Japan · Tier 1 Gold
What it means	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.	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.	Certifies fair prices and conditions for producers in developing countries — not organic, not environmental. Common on coffee, cocoa, sugar, bananas, tea.	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	Textiles	Several categories	Food	Food
Established	1992	—	1997	2001
Inspection	Annual on-site + lab testing of finished products	None	Annual on-site by FLOCERT (independent of Fairtrade International)	Annual on-site by MAFF-registered certifier
Residue testing	Required (this is the entire point)	None	Not for organic — Fairtrade alone doesn't test residues	Required for high-risk operations
Guarantees	Finished textile tested against the OEKO-TEX harmful-substance limit list. Limits on heavy metals, formaldehyde, pesticide residue, banned amines, allergenic dyes.	Nothing. It is not a certification and there is no body verifying anything.	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.	≥95% organic ingredients. No synthetic pesticides, no synthetic fertilizers, no GMOs. Annual inspection by a MAFF-registered certifier.
Does NOT	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.	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 mean organic — many Fairtrade products are conventionally grown. A separate Fairtrade-Organic dual certification exists.	Mutual recognition with the US, EU, and Canada applies to specific product categories — check each agreement before importing.

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