Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC): A right for Indigenous people

ASC is conducting a project on Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) to look at the potential inclusion of FPIC into the ASC Farm Standard in the future.

FPIC is a key principle of human rights law that protects the rights of Indigenous people. Two significant international legal instruments in this context are the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) (2007) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Indigenous and Tribal Peoples’ Convention (ILO C169) (1989).

Initial scoping research by ASC on FPIC, carried out in the first half of 2023, highlighted the complexity and sensitivity of this issue, and the degree of polarisation on the topic among key stakeholders in the aquaculture sector. It has also emphasised the challenges for implementation associated with the inclusion of FPIC in the ASC Farm Standard. This underlines the need for a careful decision-making process on this topic that considers diverse viewpoints and eventually includes a well-designed pilot to test new indicators for the Standard.

The project therefore includes an additional and upfront phase of stakeholder dialogue to hear from Indigenous leaders and other Indigenous representatives, as well as from non-Indigenous community members and companies about their views on what a desirable and feasible FPIC process would look like for aquaculture.

The main objective of the project is to include the principles of FPIC into a future revision of the Community Engagement Criterion (3.13) of the ASC Farm Standard and potentially the parts of the Criterion on Grievance Mechanisms (3.12) that apply to communities that are currently in the ASC Farm Standard v1.0. As part of this revision, the project aims to:

1. Decide on the scope of the target group for FPIC (Indigenous people only, or also communities in general).
2. Decide on the scope of the application of FPIC (all farms or based on a species/ country combination risk assessment).
3. Decide on the steps and methodology this process would use.
4. Formulate a robust set of indicators that represent the principles of FPIC.
5. Develop guidance and other materials for successful implementation of FPIC by Units of Certification (UoCs), and Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs).

FPIC Project Progress

As a first step to explore how FPIC can be included in the ASC Farm Standard, we have started work in Chile. We chose this country because of its diverse Indigenous population, ratification of the main international instruments on Indigenous law, important natural resources, and a large number of ASC certified salmon farms.

We are working with two partners that have been key to our progress so far, the the the Consensus Building Institute and Ngülamtun SpA. Their involvement is crucial to learn about, understand and incorporate Indigenous perspectives, mediating between different stakeholders, co-designing the project, and together reflecting on outcomes and ways forward.

The following have been key milestones in the project so far:

Phase 1: Exploration

• September 2023: Public consultation on the project Terms of Reference.
• March 2024: Start of interviews with Indigenous leaders and salmon companies.
• November 2024: Two workshops held in Chile, one with Indigenous leaders, and one with salmon companies.

Phase 2: Working towards an FPIC pilot

• February 2025: Start of next phase working towards an FPIC pilot.

Learnings from the first phase have been described in this blog.

More information on the FPIC project can be found in the Terms of Reference (ToR). The ToR were amended after public consultation in October 2023.

Contact person: Froukje Kruijssen