Traceability

Seafood products from certified farms can carry the ASC logo. Each company in the supply chain that owns and sells an ASC certified product must have a valid Chain of Custody certificate.

Chain of Custody (CoC) certification ensures that every company trading in ASC certified seafood has effective traceability systems in place. This reassures consumers that the ASC-labelled seafood they buy has been sourced legally from a certified source, has been separated from non-certified seafood, and can be traced along the supply chain from farm to the final sale.

In order to maximise efficiencies and reduce costs, and in light of the fact that many companies in the supply chain sell both wild caught and farmed seafood, the ASC shares the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Chain of Custody system.

The Chain of Custody standard consists of five key principles that every company must meet to achieve certification:

• Purchasing from a certified supplier
• Certified products are identifiable
• Certified products are segregated
• Products are traceable and volumes are recorded
• The organisation has a management system

Just like farms, businesses that wish to become Chain of Custody certified must be audited by independent certifiers to ensure that all requirements are met. Find a list of certification bodies around the world accredited to carry out assessments against the Chain of Custody Standard on Assurance Services International’s website.

The traceability requirements are established in three variants to service a diverse range of companies:

• Default

Applicable to single or multi-site company that is handling or trading certified products

• Group

Applicable to any organisation handling certified products at multiple sites, where each site is controlled and monitored by a head office

• Consumer-Facing Organisation

Applicable to most companies of any size that sell directly to final consumers

More information about Chain of Custody certification and easy guidelines on how to get started can be found under Get Certified! Chain of Custody guidelines: Default, Group, Consumer facing organisation.