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	USDA Organic United States · Tier 1 Gold	Bio Suisse 'Knospe' (Bud) Switzerland · Tier 2 Trusted	? 'Natural' (NOT a certification) Worldwide · Tier 4 Marketing	EU Ecolabel (Flower) European Union · Tier 3 Specialty
What it means	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.	The Swiss organic farmers' federation mark. The Knospe (Bud) is the dominant organic mark in Swiss supermarkets and operates to standards stricter than the Swiss federal organic ordinance.	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 European Commission's voluntary environmental label. Covers cleaning products, paper, textiles, electronics, accommodation services. NOT an organic mark.
Scope	Food	Food	Several categories	Several categories
Established	2002	1981	—	1992
Inspection	Annual on-site by USDA-accredited certifier	Annual on-site, bio.inspecta accredited	None	Annual audit by national Ecolabel competent body
Residue testing	Required on ≥5% of operations annually	Required	None	Per-category limits
Guarantees	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.	Whole-farm conversion. Lower nitrogen inputs than the Swiss federal organic baseline. Strong animal welfare requirements. Annual on-site inspection.	Nothing. It is not a certification and there is no body verifying anything.	Lifecycle-based environmental criteria per product category. Restrictions on hazardous chemicals. Annual licence renewal with audit.
Does NOT	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.	Switzerland is outside the EU — the Knospe is recognised by the EU under the Switzerland-EU equivalence agreement, but not by USDA without further certification.	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 apply to food. Doesn't mean organic.

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