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	USDA Organic United States · Tier 1 Gold	Tún (Iceland) Iceland · Tier 1 Gold	Rainforest Alliance Global · Tier 3 Specialty	? '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.	Vottunarstofan Tún is Iceland's only accredited organic certifier. Accredited by MAST (Matvælastofnun) under the EU 2018/848-equivalent Icelandic standard, so a Tún-certified product is also recognised as EU-organic.	Sustainable-agriculture certification (post-2020 merged standard with UTZ). Covers environmental, social, and economic criteria. NOT an organic mark.	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	Food	Several categories
Established	2002	1994	1987	—
Inspection	Annual on-site by USDA-accredited certifier	Annual on-site, MAST-accredited	Annual third-party audit (RA-accredited)	None
Residue testing	Required on ≥5% of operations annually	Required for at-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 per EU rules. No synthetic pesticides, no GMOs. Annual on-site inspection. Animal welfare standards (outdoor / pasture access, geothermally-warmed greenhouse compatibility for vegetables).	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.	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.	There aren't many Tún-certified operations (~120–160) — coverage in the Icelandic market is narrower than in the EU mainland.	Allows synthetic pesticides — does NOT meet any organic standard. Often confused with organic but it's a different programme.	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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Compare certifications · Organic.is