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	USDA Organic United States · Tier 1 Gold	? 'Natural' (NOT a certification) Worldwide · Tier 4 Marketing	EU Ecolabel (Flower) European Union · Tier 3 Specialty	Naturland Germany · Tier 2 Trusted
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 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.	A German farmers' association whose private organic standard is stricter than the EU baseline. Covers food, aquaculture, textiles, and cosmetics. Recognised globally.
Scope	Food	Several categories	Several categories	Several categories
Established	2002	—	1992	1982
Inspection	Annual on-site by USDA-accredited certifier	None	Annual audit by national Ecolabel competent body	Annual on-site by Naturland-accredited inspectors
Residue testing	Required on ≥5% of operations annually	None	Per-category limits	Required
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.	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.	Stricter than EU 2018/848 (lower nitrogen inputs, full-farm conversion, social standards). Annual on-site inspection. Fair-pricing requirements for member farmers.
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.	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.	Membership-based — only farms that join the Naturland association can use the mark.

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