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	OTC OEKO-TEX Organic Cotton Global · Tier 2 Trusted	Bioland Germany · Tier 2 Trusted	EU Ecolabel (Flower) European Union · Tier 3 Specialty	USDA Organic United States · Tier 1 Gold
What it means	Launched April 2023 by the OEKO-TEX Association. A separate certificate from Standard 100 that combines the Standard 100 chemical-residue test with verified organic-cotton supply chain — addressing the long-standing confusion that Standard 100 alone is NOT an organic mark.	Germany's largest organic farmers' association. Bioland-certified farms operate to a stricter private standard than the EU baseline.	The European Commission's voluntary environmental label. Covers cleaning products, paper, textiles, electronics, accommodation services. NOT an organic mark.	The US Department of Agriculture's national organic standard. The green-and-white seal is the legal mark for any food sold as 'organic' in the United States.
Scope	Textiles	Food	Several categories	Food
Established	2023	1971	1992	2002
Inspection	Annual on-site by OEKO-TEX-accredited institute (Hohenstein et al.)	Annual on-site by Bioland-accredited inspectors	Annual audit by national Ecolabel competent body	Annual on-site by USDA-accredited certifier
Residue testing	Required (Standard 100 panel + GMO/pesticide screening)	Required	Per-category limits	Required on ≥5% of operations annually
Guarantees	Two grades: 'Organic Cotton' (100% certified-organic cotton) and 'Organic Cotton Blended' (≥70% certified-organic cotton). Full Standard 100 chemical residue test on the finished product. Additional GMO test + pesticide residue test specific to organic farming. Verified chain of custody from farm to finished product. Annual re-certification with independent OEKO-TEX institute audits.	Whole-farm conversion (no parallel conventional production). Lower permitted nitrogen inputs than EU baseline. Animal welfare standards stricter than EU baseline. Annual on-site inspection.	Lifecycle-based environmental criteria per product category. Restrictions on hazardous chemicals. Annual licence renewal with audit.	At least 95% of ingredients are certified organic (the '100% Organic' variant requires every ingredient). No synthetic pesticides, no synthetic fertilizers, no GMOs, no sewage sludge, no irradiation. Annual on-site inspection by a USDA-accredited certifier. Residue testing on at least 5% of certified operations each year.
Does NOT	Doesn't certify the social/labour conditions across the supply chain in the way GOTS does (use OEKO-TEX STeP for that, or pair with GOTS). Cotton-only — doesn't apply to other organic fibres (wool, hemp, linen).	Like Naturland, membership-based — only Bioland-association farms can use the mark.	Doesn't apply to food. Doesn't mean organic.	Doesn't certify nutrition, taste, or animal welfare specifically (separate marks like AWA cover welfare). Doesn't guarantee local production — a 'USDA Organic' product can be grown anywhere with an accredited inspector.

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