Science Forum Day 2 - Fred Weirowski - Aquaculture certification

partnership Ÿ excellence Ÿ growth

Development of Group Certification in Small Scale Aquaculture

Science Week 2011

Certification Systems in Aquaculture

Work in progress: DOF/FAO TCP Project “Small-scale aquaculture certification in Thailand” 2011


The certification jungle


Dwindling market opportunities?

Nearly 100 products in the assortment of METRO GROUP comply with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) requirements

Mc Donald US: 100 % of the whitefish used comes from MSC-certified fisheriesStarting in October 2011 , the 7,000 McDonald’s across 39 countries that serve 13 million customers daily will serve MSC certified fish sandwich.

Sodexo: 100 % of the fresh and frozen produce will have to meet Marine Stewardship Council, or Best Aquaculture Practices standards.

Greenpeace Best of Sustainable Seafood Retailers


• Certification the way to have access to value chains?• Have small scale aquaculture farmers to take part ?

CRP 1.3 How can obstacles to certification of small producers be overcome?

Group certification

Where is the fish coming from?

WWF 2009


Certification schemes with group certification in aquaculture

IFOAM / FAO // GlobalGAP /Fairtrade

• Legal construction and compliance procedures• Technical, social , environmental aspects • Internal quality management control systems

No general guidance is existing yetExisting regulations or recommendations are not harmonized


Issues to consider in group certification

• Which governance level of guidance? National / FAO?

• Definitions (small scale producer, group/, cluster, certification unit)

• National and international legal environment(legal boundaries for third party certification schemes)

• Chain responsibilities (processors distributors, retailer)

• Social & economic feasibility & sustainability (certification as part of production management)

• Returns of investments


Compliance with leading schemes

FAO

Guideline Aquaculture Certification

IFOAM Guidelines

FAO Guideline organic labeling in aquaculture

Thai Gap +

•GlobalGAP•Best Aquaculture Practices Certification Management (former ACC) (BAP)•Aquaculture Stewardship Council ASC•Fairtrade

Naturland

Soil Association


Further research needed

• Guarantee model or

Legal entity model ?

• Social feasibility – Schedule to introduce structures and capacities

• Finance


Guarantee model or Legal entity

Participatory Guarantee System (IFOAM)

Cooperative / Society (GlobalGAP , ASC, Fairtrade)

Oath, pledge to commit Legal registration, membership commitment

Horizontal, participation of farmers; development of rules within the farmers group, Ethical Council’s

Hierarchical functions: board, committees , treasurer etc

REDE DE AGROECOLOGIA

ECOVIDA


Schedule of implementation

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4

GOAL Volunteer Farmer Group

Farmer Business Group

Certified Farmer Business Group

Farmer Business Consortium

Achievement Matching of farmers and group inception

Consolidated formal group, GAP applied

3rd party certificationfinance

Coordinated marketing,collaboration between groups

Steps … … … …

Sustainable balance between awareness, capacity, social demands and technical needs


“Certification a burden for producers”

Financial support from processors ?

Technical & capacity building support from certifier?

e.g. Fair trade: Producer Services and Relations UnitLiaison Development Department

Independent finance for smallholders

Certification lowers the risk for SSA Increases the chance to get financed

Producer Certification Fund

Part of the models to finance smallholder enterprises

Finance of Group Certification forsmall scale aquaculture farmers


Thank You


Participatory Guarantee System

Processor

Mangement

Retailer

Contracted retailer ,who agree with Organic certification scheme

No legal entity but pledge To comply with organic production rulesmight be cooperative for marketingEthical committeeInternal farmer to farmer audits

PGS built on a foundation of trust, social networks and knowledge exchange.

Models without legal entity


Legal entity models

Strictly regulations Environmental Social (community)

Fairtrade and NACSA favor smallholders


National or international Standards and CS guidelines

• Is this a way out or a way to more confusion?

• National support – national standards developed and authorized and implemented about extension services by national governments –

• Not international acknowledged from retailersIssues: independency, transparency, non 3rd party certification

• Aquaculture certification should include:

– Multi-stakeholders participation, consensus and performance based. – focused on key impacts from aquaculture– if possible, local/regional certifiers should be used.


•Voluntary certification is a business decision by the involved farmer or farmer group have to make taking into consideration costs and benefits.

• Is there a premium price, is there a market and can it be accessed after certification?

•There is already a tendency that better farmers are seeking certification to "document" they are better.

•Looking at markets it should be noted that it is expected that the demand for fisheries products will rise by 40 million tonnes in 2030.

• It can only be recommended to get certified if there really is a clear market demand•. •If certification of aquaculture products target true sustainability the approaches used for•It might be a solution to certify areas instead of only individual farms and hence make sustainability and certification a shared responsibility.

•FAO




CRP 3.7 Consolidating emerging lessons on how to apply business development services to stimulate small‐scale agri‐business (e.g., …certification schemes..) Would attaining certification significantly reduce the incidence of trade related shocks?

What other steps can be taken improve quality and value?

CRP 1.3Strategies are also needed for developing effective public‐private partnerships with the local and international commercial sector to provide commercial services appropriately formulated for pro‐poor value chains…

CRP 4 Subcomponent 1: Improving food safety