GDST Executive Director Huw Thomas on the future of digitized data in seafood

GDST Interim Executive Director Huw Thomas
GDST Interim Executive Director Huw Thomas | Photo courtesy of the World Benchmarking Alliance
6 Min

The Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST), a Netherlands-based seafood consultancy firm, was established in 2017 and has developed a traceability standard that has been applied across seafood supply chains. 

The standard sets a minimum data requirement companies need to document and transmit within their supply chains in order to be GDST-compliant and governs technical formats and nomenclatures for sharing data among interoperable traceability systems, among other uses.

Huw Thomas is the interim executive director of the GDST and also the director of the consultancy firm 3 Pillars Seafood. He has also held a number of other roles in retail and seafood supply chains in his 30-year career.

SeafoodSource spoke with Thomas about the evolving role of traceability in seafood supply chains and how GDST is helping seafood companies manage this changing landscape of regulatory requirements and increased market interest in traceability.

SeafoodSource: Can you explain how GDST supports seafood companies?

Thomas: GDST exists because there was a realization that the long-established food safety traceability system was no longer fit to meet the information needs of responsible businesses that are increasingly asked about environmental impact, fish stocks, labor and human rights, and more information from consumers, NGOs, and governments. 

To address this need, the GDST standard was established to provide the framework of how seafood supply chain data and information can be collected in a standardized format, using a standardized nomenclature and communications protocol.

SeafoodSource: Does GDST solely focus on supply chain data, or do you work with other entities like governments?

Thomas: Governments are clearly thinking about due diligence, the burden of responsibility, and the need to demand industry that it can ensure certain things are or are not happening – whether it's deforestation, labor and human rights abuse, or destructive fishing practices.

GDST is in dialogue with several countries to discuss their approach to traceability, import and export controls, and fisheries management, as well as potentially adopting and implementing our standard into their regulations. The recent announcement by Indonesia that its Stelina Project is adopting and implementing GDST for Indonesian seafood trade domestically and internationally is a clear demonstration of the value the country sees regarding standards for digital data.

GDST is also leading the way in digitizing data for commodities. Eventually, governments and retailers will realize that if they can support GDST on its pioneering journey that other commodities can follow its path.

SeafoodSource: How does GDST fit with the traceability embedded in existing programs like chain of custody for certification?

Thomas: Third-party certification has its chain of custody which GDST complements, and we're starting to work with four global certification schemes that have already signed up as partners to GDST. They represent the vast majority of third-party certification. Why have they done that? Because they recognize that digitization of data is coming, so they need to make sure that their chain of custody and approach has adapted and are fit for purpose.

SeafoodSource: Are you still refining the standard and looking for companies to engage in the development of the standard, or is the focus now on adoption of the standard in supply chains with periodic review and revisions of the standard?

Thomas: We're kind of in between the companies, playing the role of figuring out what the standard should look like, how it works practically, where the bumps are, and moving toward looking at how service providers are able to deliver it to a company that is just getting into it.

Working with seafood companies and other businesses that have become partners is critical to socialize and proliferate the need and the vision.

For the broader industry, it was raised on several occasions through the recent Seafood2030 traceability panels that there are still solution providers that require you to pay a license fee to host data. That isn't the case with the GDST standard.

There continues to be education for retailers, brands, and their suppliers so they know to say no to that. It's their data. Solution providers don't own that data; they are providing a service to curate and host data, analyze it, and provide it in a dashboard. 

GDST accepts that there is a cost to establish and maintain a connection, but that should be a single additional cost rather than multiple charges. I think the beauty of the way the standard was developed is it's suitable for large scale, small scale, it doesn't matter. You shouldn't have to pay for multiple systems if your data is in a capable system.

SeafoodSource: Is that what a future with GDST-capable systems looks like – integration done by companies and service providers now moves into the backend and data sharing becomes easier for the user?

Thomas: If a company has a capable system and a customer or supplier with a GDST-capable system, they should be able to send, receive, and ingest data. 

If I sent you a text on your phone now, you would be able to receive it without having to pay my telephone provider. Why? We pay our own service provider to enable that to happen for us. The same should happen with data between GDST-capable systems.

The GDST vision is that one day software and hardware is produced, and it is GDST-capable at the time of launch, similar to a smartphone when you move around outside and use Wi-Fi hotspots.

What timeline are we looking at? I don't know. Let’s be aggressive and say it's 2030, but it could take more or less time. 


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