The Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI) Steering Board unanimously decided to revise the GSSI Global Benchmark Tool upon hearing feedback from its partners.
The tool is designed to deliver transparency and promote improvement by encouraging seafood certification schemes to meet the GSSI Requirements and GSSI Indicators.
Seafood certification schemes that undergo the benchmarking process and comply with all of the GSSI Requirements will be formally recognized. GSSI Requirements are grounded in the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) and United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Guidelines.
The benchmarking process will also verify and communicate if recognized seafood certification schemes have implemented GSSI Indicators. The GSSI Indicators are grounded in the CCRF and related FAO, ISO and ISEAL documents. The GSSI Indicators will allow schemes to demonstrate the diversity of their approach and help stakeholders understand where differences exist.
The GSSI Steering Board will provide technical guidance to the GSSI Expert Working Groups about how to apply the agreed structure to complete the revision of the GSSI Global Benchmark Tool. This will be followed by a Pilot Testing Program and further opportunity for public comments.
