"We are very pleased to work with an auditing organisation with such worldwide capacity and capabilities as SGS," BAP Executive Director Jim Heerin said, "particularly as the Global Aquaculture Alliance is preparing to announce the completion of new standards."
BAP certification is based on standards developed by the Global Aquaculture Alliance, an international non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing environmentally and socially responsible aquaculture. The BAP standards are drafted by species-specific technical committees and reviewed by a Standards Oversight Committee of varied stakeholders following a period of public comment.
This achievement represents a very important step for SGS in order to meet the food safety and sustainability needs of aquaculture industry and retailers globally through BAP certification, states Rob Parrish, Vice President Global Food at SGS.
The BAP standards address environmental and social responsibility, animal welfare, food safety and traceability in a voluntary certification program for aquaculture facilities.
Successful participants in the BAP programme are awarded with the Best Aquaculture Practices Certification mark for use on packaging of seafood products, demonstrating to consumers a participants commitment to providing safe and sustainably sourced seafood.
Last year the BAP certification programme was successfully benchmarked against the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) food safety requirements, therefore seafood processing plants can now achieve both BAP certification and GFSI compliance through a single audit process.
SGS Agreement With Best Aquaculture Practices
GLOBAL - In a service agreement between Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) and the independent contractor (SGS), SGS will perform facility inspections and certification audits for aquaculture farms, hatcheries, processing plants and feed mills that apply for BAP certification.
