The Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) has bolstered its implementation in tuna supply chains with the addition of FCF Co., one of the world’s largest tuna traders. FCF Co. includes the Bumble Bee brand and more than 30 subsidiaries, fishing bases, and shipping agents across the globe.
GDST already has the support of the Global Tuna Alliance (GTA) and the International Sustainable Seafood Foundation (ISSF) in the sector, and it said in a press release GDST will help FCF implement traceability standards to assure FCF products are legally sourced. Released in March 2020, the GDST 1.0 standard was developed specifically for seafood traceability systems to help companies comply with government import- and export-control regulations by facilitating data-sharing along the supply chain.
For its part, FCF said its implementation of the GDST standards can help the company and its customers provide end-market users with stronger assurances that its products are traceable and legally sourced.
“FCF is confident that its support of the GDST will result in the increased value of our seafood traceability systems and strengthen the seafood industry overall. FCF looks forward to facilitating the implementation of the GDST 1.0 standards, as well as the key data elements (KDEs) for digital traceability for seafood supply chains,” it said.
The company said its sees the GDST collaboration as an opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to supply-chain data interoperability and verifiability.
“Alignment of the GDST traceability standards across the various tuna supply chains will benefit the entire fishing industry. Robust traceability standards are urgently needed to support efficient data-sharing along the supply chain to comply with government import/export control regulations as well as delivering state of the art transparency for the clients and valued customers,” it said. “With this collaboration, FCF clearly demonstrates our full commitment to supply chain data interoperability and verifiability.”
