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	USDA Organic United States · Tier 1 Gold	JAS Organic Japan · Tier 1 Gold	Fair for Life Global · Tier 2 Trusted	? 'Natural' (NOT a certification) Worldwide · Tier 4 Marketing
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.	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.	Combined organic + fair-trade + social-responsibility certification. Issued by Ecocert (originally developed by IMOswiss). Stricter than baseline Fairtrade on labour conditions; often paired with an organic mark on the same product.	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.
Scope	Food	Food	Several categories	Several categories
Established	2002	2001	2006	—
Inspection	Annual on-site by USDA-accredited certifier	Annual on-site by MAFF-registered certifier	Annual on-site, Ecocert-administered	None
Residue testing	Required on ≥5% of operations annually	Required for high-risk operations	Risk-based	None
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.	≥95% organic ingredients. No synthetic pesticides, no synthetic fertilizers, no GMOs. Annual inspection by a MAFF-registered certifier.	Fair pricing for producers. Compliance with ILO core conventions on labour rights, no forced or child labour. Environmental criteria including organic-or-equivalent farming practices. Annual on-site audit by Ecocert.	Nothing. It is not a certification and there is no body verifying anything.
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.	Mutual recognition with the US, EU, and Canada applies to specific product categories — check each agreement before importing.	Doesn't itself mean organic — pair with an organic mark for the full picture.	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.

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