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USDA Organic logo
USDA Organic
United States · Tier 1 Gold
Demeter International logo
Demeter International
Global · Tier 2 Trusted
Fairtrade International logo
Fairtrade International
Global · Tier 3 Specialty
What it meansThe 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 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.Certifies fair prices and conditions for producers in developing countries — not organic, not environmental. Common on coffee, cocoa, sugar, bananas, tea.
ScopeFoodSeveral categoriesFood
Established200219281997
InspectionAnnual on-site by USDA-accredited certifierAnnual on-site by Demeter-accredited inspectorsAnnual on-site by FLOCERT (independent of Fairtrade International)
Residue testingRequired on ≥5% of operations annuallyRisk-based on top of organicNot for organic — Fairtrade alone doesn't test residues
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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
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.
  • 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.
  • Doesn't mean organic — many Fairtrade products are conventionally grown. A separate Fairtrade-Organic dual certification exists.

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