The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has announced a review period for revisions to its chain of custody standard, while MarinTrust is also seeking comment on its own revisions to its chain of custody standard.
MSC is currently running a 60-day public consultation period, open until 30 May 2026, on updates to its Chain of Custody Standard, which is designed to allow businesses and consumers to be sure that seafood with an MSC label was sourced from an MSC-certified fishery.
The revisions include clarifications on requirements and processes, which MSC said should ensure audits are more consistent. The organization began the review period in 2023 and expects to publish its program documents in early 2027.
“This includes removing unnecessarily complex or inconsistent language and combining the three current versions of the Standard (Default, Group, and Consumer-facing Organization) into a single, restructured document,” MSC said.
MSC also said it has developed proposals on strengthening traceability to demonstrate compliance with new and evolving traceability regulations, with an added requirement that MSC certificate holders perform traceback exercises.
MSC said it is reviewing the standards to make sure they’re still relevant to current best practices and also that they can be effectively applied to companies.
“There have been significant changes within the MSC program and across the wider seafood industry since the standard was last reviewed in 2019,” MSC Head of Supply Chain Standard Operations Lucy Frazer said in a release. “These changes provide opportunities to build on and improve our Chain of Custody program.”
MarinTrust said it is also looking for feedback on its revisions to its own chain of custody standard, which is focused on full traceability for marine ingredients. Its review period ends 1 May 2026.
MarinTrust said its revisions follow a successful accreditation process and are “minor and focused on improving clarity and practicality for applicants and Certificate Holders.”
“This revision of MarinTrust’s Chain of Custody Standard marks significant milestone following ISO/IEC 17065 accreditation,” MarinTrust Assurance and Risk Manager Laura Courage said. “Often an overlooked process, accreditation provides a rigorous and internationally recognized mechanism that confirms the competence, impartiality, and integrity of organizations certifying products, processes, and services. In short, it further affirms the credibility of this important standard for the marine ingredients industry and its value chain."
