“Overall 103 plants in 10 countries are now Global Standard for Responsible Supply (IFFO RS) certified, amounting
to 40 percent of world combined fishmeal and fish oil production and 70 percent
of that produced by IFFO members,” says Francisco Aldon Head of Standards at
IFFO. “More factories are in the process of certification,” he adds, “and
sixteen fisheries have been approved as sources of responsible raw materials
under the RS standard.”
Progress of the IFFO RS standard is under constant review and
development by the IFFO RS Board, made up of representatives of the value
chain, such as fishmeal and oil producers, feed producers, fish farmers,
traders, fish processors, retailers and environmental NGOs. At a recent meeting
the board discussed improvements to the governance of the RS standard which is
critical to its continuing credibility. The potential addition of social and
ethical clauses to the standard as well as pollution clauses to reassure the
value chain was considered and another key topic was the IFFO RS Improvers
Programme (IP). This is progressing with the support of Sustainable Fisheries
Partnership (SFP) and FAO. The IP's main objective is to help improve fishmeal
and fish oil producers that are currently unable to meet the standard, either
because of issues within the factory or because of problems with the raw
material and the associated fisheries.
In order to keep up with the progress of the industry, ensure full
traceability and strengthen the RS standard, the auditing process has been
extended to include the head offices of companies that own multiple sites where
some are RS certified and some not, and third party storage
facilities. These stores need checks to ensure the IFFO RS certified
material is kept separate from non-certified fishmeal and/or fish oil.
The by-products (guts, trimmings, heads and tails) of 52 species usually
destined for human consumption have also been approved as raw material
for fishmeal and fish oil under the RS standard. Thirteen units (storage
facilities, fish oil refineries, head offices) have achieved the IFFO RS Chain
of Custody (CoC) Standard.
Both the RS Standard and the RS CoC Standard have new logos and there
are plans to develop a QR code for each of the certified units in order to give
the buyer a means of verifying certification independently.
The IFFO RS programme is also contributing information to 'standard
maps' by organisations such as Seafish Network which compare and
contrast the different seafood standards on the market. For IFFO RS standard
these maps are a good way to demonstrate transparency and to ensure as many
fish products buyers and consumers as possible see that IFFO members are
working in a responsible way.
Mike Copeland, international business and technical director, Oceana Brands, South Africa, has
first-hand evidence of the benefits of RS certification to the fisheries in
today’s world where retailers and consumers are increasingly engaged in the
provenance of their food and the inputs used in its production.
He commented, “We were delighted when our factories received IFFO RS
certification as this demonstrates to our customers that Oceana Brands
responsibly sources its raw material and has well managed factories ensuring
pure and safe product”.
About the Global Standard for Responsible Supply (IFFO RS)
The Global Standard for Responsible Supply (IFFO RS) is a
business-to-business certification programme that enables a compliant factory
to demonstrate that it responsibly sources its raw material from well-managed
fisheries and responsibly converts that into pure and safe products.
To be certified fishmeal and fish oil factories must demonstrate
sourcing from well managed fisheries and safe and traceable production.
Assessments are conducted by an independent certification body and in just over
two years, IFFO RS has successfully attracted 90 certified factories, spread
across nine countries. Two of the largest sustainably managed fisheries in the
world, Peruvian Anchovy and Alaskan Pollock have been approved for supply into
the manufacturing food chain including whole fish and by- product raw material
to produce certified fishmeal and fish oil.
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| IFFO RS logo |
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