MSC CoC, ASC CoC, and RFM CoC Sustainable Seafood Chain Of Custody
As the market for sustainable seafood grows, consumers are increasingly demanding to know their fish are sourced from responsible fisheries or farms. This has contributed to retailers making commitments to source and sell a certified products. With the rise in the demand for traceability, assure your supply chain and consumers that fish can be traced to its sustainable source with Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), or Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) Chain of Custody certification.
Envirolink provides accurate and efficient certification services globally for MSC, ASC, and RFM supply chain. As the first accredited MSC CoC certification body and a contributor to the development of the MSC and ASC standards, Envirolink is fully versed in the nuances of the requirements and on-the-ground challenges faced by certification applicants. Our team of professional auditors has a global reputation for providing thorough, timely and cost-effective service.
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Program Details
- Eligibility : Any organization that takes legal ownership with the intent to sell with a certified claim, either business to business or direct to consumer.
- Any organization that takes possession of customer-supplied material to act as a contract processor or repacker.
- Key Principles and Requirements : To be CoC-certified your organization must have procedures and record keeping in place where you can demonstrate to an auditor that you’ve:
- Received certified seafood product directly from a certified fishery, farm, or CoC certified supplier.
- Kept certified seafood product separate from non-certified seafood while in your ownership (through storage, processing, packaging and sale/shipping). Basically, ensure that you’ve identified all risks of comingling certified with non-certified product, put controls in place to address those risks, and have records that demonstrate those controls are effective.
- Have records that allow a link from sales of certified product back to your supplier receiving document - Sustainable Seafood Chain Of Custody.
Process - Sustainable Seafood Chain Of Custody
- Submit application : Submit an application. Envirolink prepares a proposal that includes the scope and cost of the audit. Sign and return the proposal to begin the project.
- Pre-Audit : Become familiar with the requirements then review your operations, developing additional procedures, training and record keeping as needed to ensure you can demonstrate to an auditor that you have
- Received certified seafood product directly from a certified fishery, farm, or CoC certified supplier
- Identified all risks of comingling certified with non-certified product, put controls in place to address those risks, and have records that demonstrate those controls are effective.
- Have records that allow a link from sales of certified product back to your receiving document (i.e. invoice) from supplier
- On-site : Audit An Envirolink auditor visits your facilities to review your organization's control systems and records from a sample of transactions to verify traceability. The auditor then prepares an audit report.
- Corrective Actions : Based on findings in the audit report, Envirolink issues corrective action requests as applicable. Your organization must respond to any non-conformities raised.
- Certification Decision : Envirolink reviews the audit report as well as evidence of implementation of corrective actions before rendering a final certification decision. Successful applicants are issued a CoC certificate and can sell certified product and promote their certification.
- Surveillance Audits : CoC certification is granted for three years and requires surveillance audits at 12 or 18 month intervals relative to the risk of your operations.
Benefits -Sustainable Seafood Chain Of Custody
- By becoming CoC certified, your business will be able to:
- Gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace by meeting retailer or customer demand for certified products
- Access to higher margin markets
- Manage risk by assuring your customers that your seafood comes from legal and environmentally responsible sources
- Promote your products with consumer-facing sustainability labeling
- Demonstrate Corporate Social Responsibility
- Help protect the marine environment and secure fish stocks for the future
