ASC announces terms of reference for group certification and new pilots

Today, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) published two Terms of Reference (ToR) for the group certification project and associated pilot audits.

Under group certification, farmers will come together to implement the ASC standards to achieve certification as one entity, with a central office to take care of the administration of the group as a whole. Taking a collective approach will bring efficiencies for all parties.  

A technical working group comprised of industry, service providers and NGO stakeholders will make group certification methodology available for public comment.

During the consultation period, five pilot audits will be launched for shrimp, tilapia, trout, bivalves and pangasius as these species engage small-scale producers in different countries.

All documents are available on the ASC website.

To take part in the pilots

ASC seeks applications for the audit pilots on a first come, first served basis.

Farmer groups and CABs have until mid-February 2016 to send an application to the ASC.

An application for both farmer groups and CAB’s is available to download in word format.

Terms of reference for Group Certification

The ToR for the group certification project is available here.

The ToR for pilots is available here.

Get involved

For more information about the scheme and to submit your application before February 15, 2016, contact the ASC team by email on: pilots@asc-aqua.org.