The announcement came during Seafood Expo North America in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, on 17 March.
GSSI’s updated Global Benchmark Tool include GSSI Requirements, which seafood certification schemes need to meet to be recognized by GSSI. These requirements are grounded in the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF) and FAO Guidelines for Ecolabelling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine/Inland Capture Fisheries and FAO Technical Guidelines for Aquaculture Certification.
At the same time, the tool includes GSSI Indicators, which allow schemes to show their diverse approach and help stakeholders understand where differences exist. These are grounded in the CCRF and related FAO documents, ISO normative standards and ISEAL codes. The pilot is co-funded by IDH (the Sustainable Trade Initiative).
“We are confident that GSSI will provide insight to retailers and foodservice companies of what a truly robust third-party, FAO-based certification program looks like, which will assist them tremendously as they perfect their sustainability programs. We have always believed that the BAP program has a robust environmental platform that fully embraces FAO guidelines and we believe the coming months will validate this through the pilot process,” said Peter Redmond, BAP VP of market development (pictured).
