Marketbased Quality Schemes, Certification, Organic Labels

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Market-based Quality Schemes, Certification,
Organic Labels

• Helga Josupeit
• Fishery Industry Officer
• FAO
• Rome, May 2007

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Outline

• General Considerations
• Certification Supply versus Demand
• quality schemes and geographical schemes
• eco-labels
• organic labels
• Stakeholder Concerns
• Conclusions

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Labelling Demand driven?
Customer Value Triangle

Quality
Price
Service
4
Certification schemes Production side
5
Certification schemes Demand (Supermarkets Side)
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Certification schemes Demand (Customer Side)
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Organic Consumers
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Certification schemes Production and Demand
ILO laws
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Geographical labels
Quality labels
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FAO Guidelines

• The FAO guidelines are aimed at providing
  guidance to governments and organizations that
  already maintain, or are considering
  establishing, labelling schemes for certifying
  and promoting labels for fish and fishery
  products from well managed marine capture
• fisheries.
• Reliable, independent auditing,
• Third party certification,
• Transparency of standard-setting and
• accountability,
• Standards to be based on good
• science.

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FAO Guidelines

• PRINCIPLES
• 2. The following principles should apply to
  ecolabelling schemes for
• marine capture fisheries
• 2.1 Be consistent with UNCLOS, Straddling Stocks
  Agreement, CCRF and WTO rules
• 2.2 Recognize the sovereign rights of States and
  comply with
• all relevant laws and regulations.
• 2.3 Be of a voluntary nature and market-driven.
• 2.4 Be transparent, including balanced and fair
• participation by all interested parties.
• 2.5 Be non-discriminatory, do not create
• unnecessary obstacles to trade
• and allow for fair trade and competition

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FAO Guidelines (cont.)

• PRINCIPLES
• 2.6 Provide the opportunity to enter
  international markets
• 2.7 Establish clear accountability for the owners
  of schemes and the certification bodies in
  conformity with international standards.
• 2.8 Incorporate reliable, independent auditing
  and verification procedures.
• 2.9 Be considered equivalent if consistent with
  these guidelines.
• 2.10 Be based on the best scientific evidence
  available
• 2.11 Be practical, viable and verifiable.
• 2.12 Ensure that labels communicate truthful
• information.
• 2.13 Provide for clarity.
• 2.14 Be based, at a minimum, on the
• minimum substantive requirements, criteria
• and procedures outlined in these guidelines.

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Eco labelling schemes

• NGOs
• Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
• Earth Island Dolphin-safe labelling
• International Dolphin Conservation
• Program
• Friends of the Sea
• Krav (Sweden)
• Ecofish (USA)
• Naturland
• Governments
• Iceland
• Ireland
• EU

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Processors adopting eco-labelling schemes

• Unilever and Permira (new owner of most of
  Unilever seafood business)
• CapVest (owver of Youngs Seafood
• and Findus in France and Nordic
• countries)
• Pescanova
• Lyons seafood
• Caterers, importers and wholesalers catching up
  very slowly
• Fortune Fish Company a wholesale
• seafood distribution in Chicago starts
• sustainability initiative
• Seafood Choices Alliance

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Supermarkets adopting eco-labelling schemes

• Carrefour own eco-label
• Other retailers
• ban of certain endangered species
• ban of fishing gears
• minimum commercial size above legal size
• ) Marks Spencer,
  Waitrose, Sainsbury, ASDA,
• Auchan

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Supermarkets adopting eco-labelling schemes
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Supermarkets adopting sustainability-labelling
schemes
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Eco-labelling schemes

• Processors
• Youngs
• Fishmongers Fishes,
• Netherlands

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The International Principles for Responsible
Shrimp Farming (2006)

• The International Principles for Responsible
  Shrimp Farming have been developed by the
  Consortium on Shrimp farming and the Environment,
  which consists of FAO, NACA, UNEP/GPA, the World
  Bank and WWF.
• The principles address issues including Farm
  site. Farm design. Water use. Broodstock
  and postlarvae. Feed management. Health
  management. Food safety. Social
  responsibility.

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Organic Aquaculture principles

• sites regularly replenished with pollution free
  water
• fish of natural origin and selection (absolutely
  no GMO and hormonal treatment)
• feed based on controlled meals, oils and so on
  (no GMO)
• limited and monitored treatment with medicines
  (preference for natural remedies)
• low breeding/stocking density
• longer rearing periods
• continuous monitoring of environmental impacts

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good practices labelling schemes

• GAA Global Aquaculture Alliance
• set up
  Aquaculture Certification Council Inc.
• this scheme is adopted by WALMART for its
  aquaculture products
• Thai GAP certification
• Italian API certification

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good practices labelling schemes

• Crianza del Mar (España)
• control of culturing methods
• feed control
• sanitary control
• animal welfare
• no chemicals or additives
• 24 h marketing
• environmental control
• enterprise management

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Organic labelling schemes

• NGOs
• Naturland
• Krav,
• Soil Association, UK
• Bioland
• Biogro, New Zealand
• Governments
• French Ministry of Agriculture
• (AB public scheme)

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Organic labelling schemes
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TILAPIA
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Organic labelling schemes

• Processors
• Deutsche See

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Organic in the USA

• When it pays to buy organic? (From Consumer
  Report, USA, 2006)
• Dont bother buying these items organic seafood
• Whether caught in the wild or farmed, fish can be
  labelled organic, despite the presence of
  contaminants such as mercury and PCBs.
• The USDA has not yet developed organic
  certification standards for seafood.
• In the meantime, producers are allowed to make
  their own organic claims as long as they dont
  use USDA or certified organic logos.
  California, however, recently passed a law that
  prohibits the use of any organic labelling on
  fish and other seafood until either state or
  federal certification standards are established.

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Critics by stakeholders

• Eco/bio-labelling scope and definition are not
  clear enough,
• Eco/bio labelling is not practical to implement,
  especially for multi-species fisheries,
• Being certified is costly, when the price premium
  is not guaranteed,
• Going through the full process for certification
  requires much effort, time and competence that
  may be lacking,
• The lack of criteria related to the quality of
  the fish are considered as a weakness of eco/bio
  label,
• At last but not least, fish folks expressed to
  have some doubts about the legitimacy and
  credibility of the standards holder,

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Critics by stakeholders (cont.)

• Environmentalists and/ or non fishermen are not
  welcome to tell us what we should do,
• Reluctance to give power to other than fishermen
  to set the criteria, and verify the fishing
  activity,
• Entering into a controlled scheme will prevent us
  to sell on the black market and reduce our
  revenues,
• Some would prefer to consider joining a public
  programme,
• Some would prefer to consider joining a national
  programme,
• Reducing fishing efforts on some species, some
  areas, juveniles, may create new opportunities to
  competing fishermen,
• Fisheries and aquaculture regulation is stringent
  enough no desire for a new layer of constraints,

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Critics by stakeholders (cont.)

• there are to many certifiers around, each
  certifier has his own interpretation of the
  rulebook, so the same certificate is certified to
  different standards
• there are also to many labels, and the consumer
  is confused, what the differences are and whom to
  trust
• most of the organic labels are weak on social and
  labour law issues or are not really looking at
  them,
• for certifiers or label owners the most important
  thing is to make money to survive, so they are
  weak on their own standards
• for many farmers producers the certification is a
  marketing tool, so they build a screen for the
  certifiers

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Conclusions

• Various NGOs involved in eco/bio-labelling
• More countries involved in quality labels for
  national aquaculture products
• supermarkets
• will continue to have sustainability as a buying
  policy for seafood
• very worried about bad publicity
• interested in maximizing profits and expanding
  market shares

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Conclusions

• importers/processors and catering
• rather slow in considering eco/biolabels
• Consumers
• are already confused and will become even more
  confused with more and more labels
• willing to pay more for organic products,
• but not for eco-labelled products

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Conclusions

• developing countries
• non tariff barriers?
• problems with product quality
• already some (Thailand) trying to promote good
  aquaculture practices with all producers
• huge risk of leaving small scale producers out
  from the labelling process

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Thank you for your attention