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	USDA Organic United States · Tier 1 Gold	Rainforest Alliance Global · Tier 3 Specialty	EU Ecolabel (Flower) European Union · Tier 3 Specialty	Fairtrade International Global · 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.	Sustainable-agriculture certification (post-2020 merged standard with UTZ). Covers environmental, social, and economic criteria. NOT an organic mark.	The European Commission's voluntary environmental label. Covers cleaning products, paper, textiles, electronics, accommodation services. NOT an organic mark.	Certifies fair prices and conditions for producers in developing countries — not organic, not environmental. Common on coffee, cocoa, sugar, bananas, tea.
Scope	Food	Food	Several categories	Food
Established	2002	1987	1992	1997
Inspection	Annual on-site by USDA-accredited certifier	Annual third-party audit (RA-accredited)	Annual audit by national Ecolabel competent body	Annual on-site by FLOCERT (independent of Fairtrade International)
Residue testing	Required on ≥5% of operations annually	Risk-based	Per-category limits	Not 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.	Reduced (not eliminated) synthetic pesticide use, with bans on the most hazardous classes. Forest conservation requirements (no deforestation after the cut-off date). Worker welfare and community development requirements. Annual third-party audit.	Lifecycle-based environmental criteria per product category. Restrictions on hazardous chemicals. Annual licence renewal with audit.	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.	Allows synthetic pesticides — does NOT meet any organic standard. Often confused with organic but it's a different programme.	Doesn't apply to food. Doesn't mean organic.	Doesn't mean organic — many Fairtrade products are conventionally grown. A separate Fairtrade-Organic dual certification exists.

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Compare certifications · Organic.is