The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has launched its 2017 policy development round, opening up six areas of its program to consultation from stakeholders.
Topics included in the review range from harmonizing fisheries assessment outcomes and ensuring traceability of certified product within fisheries, to a new standard to manage the mixing of MSC certified and non-certified fish feed ingredients.
The non-profit seafood sustainability organization is also asking for stakeholder input on the development of a new standard for seaweed that is being developed jointly with the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), a new program to recognize fisheries that are “in transition to MSC,” and an update for how to confirm the absence of forced labor in certified fisheries and supply chain organizations.
With MSC extending the requirements for labor practices across its program, it is proposing a self-declaration by certificate holders and those in assessment confirming the absence of forced and child labor in their operations.
In this consultation, MSC will collect stakeholder feedback on a proposed process for providing such self-declarations. The consultation period will run from 15 March to 14 May, 2017.
All other consultations are open until 30 April, 2017.
“The MSC is committed to continually evolving and updating our program so that we reference the best available scientific research, remain relevant to a global market and incorporate the most effective management practices adopted in the industry. To ensure that all the changes we make to our program are effective and proportionate, we strongly encourage both current and prospective stakeholders to participate in this round of consultations. Their experience and expertise is invaluable to our considerations on all these important topics,” said Dan Hoggarth, head of standards governance at MSC.
