ASC and MSC Standard updates

ASC Chain of Custody (CoC) Module

The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) has launched a supplementary Chain of Custody (CoC) module. The ASC CoC module is applicable to all ASC CoC certified companies. The aim is to strengthen the current system and provide a higher level of assurance to certificate holders and consumers who rely on the ASC label. The new requirements in the module complement the CoC standard and apply only to ASC seafood products. The module includes the following topics: seafood fraud, food safety, legality and antibiotic detection and other aspects inherent in the production of farmed seafood.

Fraud with fish products
Companies should conduct an annual assessment on the vulnerability to fraud of ASC-certified products with the aim of raising awareness and attention to areas with a potential risk of fraud.

Food safety
Companies that process and/or (re)package must be certified to a scheme recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) or ISO 22000 from 30 May 2024. Exempt from this requirement are companies:

• With an annual turnover of less than EUR 2 million, or;
• an annual traded volume of seafood products of less than 200,000 kg, or;
• fewer than 50 seafood-business staff employees (including during peak hours).

Legality
Organisations must ensure that they and their products comply with applicable laws, regulations and ASC requirements. If organisations fail to comply, this must be reported to the certification body.

Detection
Organisations must allow MSC and ASC and their designated representatives, the certification bodies and/or the accreditation or assurance body to take samples of fish, seafood products from certified sources or other substances for the purpose of product authentication testing or conformity verification.

MSC standard updates

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) also updated its certification documents in 2023. In terms of content, little has changed. However, texts have been clarified.

New in the standard:

• The standard refers to two new normative documents: the MSC Labour Eligibility Requirements and the ASC Chain of Custody Module.
• Additional information has been added for companies trading in certified seaweed.
• The chapter 5.7. 'Specific requirements on forced and child labour' has been reduced to one sentence, namely: The organisation shall comply with the MSC Labour Eligibility Requirements. Organisations must assess their compliance with the criteria annually through a self-assessment and, if necessary, take actions to comply.

A glimpse into the future

Currently, the following three CoC standards are in place:

• Default (for individual and multi-site certification)
• Group ( for e.g. DuraCert)
• Consumer Facing Organisation (CFO) (for companies at the end of the chain).

For ASC-certified companies, the ASC Chain of Custody Module applies additionally. To improve accessibility to the standard, MSC is currently working on merging all standards into one document.

Key focal points in this are:

• making the language clearer;
• improving accessibility;
• increase programme integrity;
• strengthen the integrity of the eco-label by strengthening traceability requirements;
• improve efficiency by working with other programmes so that, for example, audits can be combined;
• improve programme consistency when a CoC is applied to a ship;
• define and develop a remote audit approach;
• enhance credibility by increasing and applying insights.

Studies and consultations are currently ongoing for the drafting of this new standard. From the end of 2024, the conclusions will be incorporated into a draft. In 2025, the new standard will be released for consultation after which it will be relased. If you would like to be kept up to date with developments or actively participate, please visit The Chain of Custody Standard Review.