Purpose

Our project on Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) looks at the potential inclusion of the FPIC concept 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 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 main objective of the project is to assess if and how the concept of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) can be credibly incorporated into the ASC Farm Standard.  

In case of a decision on inclusion of FPIC, the project will decide on:  

• The scope of the target group for FPIC (Indigenous people only, or also communities in general) and the application of FPIC (all farms or based on a species/ country combination risk assessment); and  
• The steps and methodology this process would use and the formulation of requirements for the Farm Standard 

In case of a decision on not including FPIC, the project will decide on: 

• An alternative methodology to ensure Indigenous people’s rights are recognised and respected; and  
• The steps and methodology this process would use, and the formulation of alternative requirements for the Farm Standard 

More information on the FPIC project can be found in the Terms of Reference. 

Public consultation

There will be several opportunities to provide opinion and perspective on this project. The first opportunity is currently until 31^st of October 2023 to comment on the project’s terms of reference.

We would like to hear from you if you have any feedback or ideas about how we are planning to set up this project, any people or organisations we should involve, any useful resources you know of, or any other feedback you may have. Please do so by reaching out directly to Froukje Kruijssen.

Contact person: Froukje Kruijssen

Timeline

Resources 

• FPIC: Terms of Reference v1.0
• This project started with a student research project which can be accessed here.   
• 9th of August is International Day of Indigenous People. Read the blog published for this occasion here.