As a result of its work, IFFO retail partners have issued the following statements to demonstrate the importance of the standard to their work:
A spokesperson for Aldi said: “As a responsible business, Aldi aims to buy all of its seafood from responsible sources. Our Fish Buying Policy focuses on continuous improvement and we work closely with the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) to help us achieve our goals.
As part of our commitment to work towards continuous improvement with regards to fishmeal and fish oil, we require all our suppliers of farmed fish to work towards the IFFO RS standard.”
Morrisons’ Huw Thomas said: “The health of fisheries supplying marine proteins to the aquaculture, nutraceutical and other industries is extremely important. Independent and credible certification of fisheries and supply chains to these industries is a requirement within Morrisons Seafood Sourcing Policy, which is why we support the adoption of the IFFO RS standard within our supply chain”
Sainsburys’ Ally Dingwall said: ”As part of our commitment to sustainable aquaculture we have recognised the impact that the sourcing of wild fish for use in feedstuffs can have on the sustainability of these stocks. That’s why we request that every fishery which may be used to make fishmeal and oil for our salmon feeds must first be assessed against our sustainability rating system. Only ingredients from well-managed sources can be included in feeds and that is why we have recognised and supported the development of the Global Standard and Certification Programme for the Responsible Supply of Fishmeal and Fish Oil (IFFO RS) which allows fish meal and fish oil producers to demonstrate their responsible sourcing credentials through independent audits.”
Charlotte Bury, Tesco said: “We are committed to ensuring that all of our seafood is sourced from responsibly managed fisheries where fishing practices and management will ensure fish stocks and marine eco-systems are maintained and protected for future generations. We support the IFFO RS standard as it provides us and our customers with reassurance that the fishmeal and fish oil used in agriculture and aquaculture diets are responsibly sourced, traced and produced.”
The standard was developed by the RS Govening Board, a multi-stakeholder group which includes producers, feed manufacturers, environmental NGO’s as well as processors and retailers. Version 1 of the Standard was launched in 2009 and the Board has now approved the development of Version 2. This new version will include both ethical and environmental clauses covering a wider area to give further re-assurance to all fishmeal and oil users. It is also intended that there will be additional Certification Bodies and an IFFO RS Batch Certificate to increase traceability and ensure that feed producers can trust that the fishmeal and oil they are buying comes from responsibly sourced raw materials and is produced in a responsible manner.
Since its launch four years ago, IFFO RS has become a vital tool in the fish meal and fish oil supply chain. To date the IFFO RS programme has 103 certified producer plants and 12 Chain of Custody certified units in 10 countries around the world. A wealth of information, including stats on IFFO RS production by country and by species, can be found on the new IFFO Website.
Launched just last month, the new website has a fresh and easy to use layout and is full of essential information for industry players.
For more information visit: www.iffo.net
