Chain of Custody Program Review

ASC joins MSC in inviting stakeholders to participate in the 60-day public consultation on the outcomes of the MSC Chain of Custody (CoC) Program Review to conclude on 15 October 2018. 

The aim of the review is to improve the efficiency and consistency of the programme, and to make Chain of Custody work better for companies and certification bodies.

The consultation relates to many aspects of CoC, including the following program developments:

• • On-shore labour practices
• • CoC Default Standard
• • CoC Consumer-Facing Organisation Standard
• • CoC Group Standard
• • CoC Certification Requirements and General Certification Requirements

The proposed changes to onshore practices include the potential addition of indicators for forced and child labour practices for the supply chain.

ASC is in full collaboration with MSC and supports these inclusions as a first step in the explicit prohibition of these practices in the supply chain within a risk-based approach that will avoid duplicative costs. As a range of ASC stakeholders have requested greater scrutiny of social issues in the supply chain, ASC is leading a project to consider the inclusion of wider social issues for these facilities. This effort is being made in consultation with MSC and will leverage ASC’s expertise and experience in farm social requirements where applicable.

Contributions on the current set of revisions are welcome and valued by ASC and MSC. Stakeholders and the public are encouraged to visit MSC’s website to view the consultation materials (https://improvements.msc.org/database/labour-requirements/consultations/on-shore-labour-practices) and provide feedback.

Revisions to the Chain of Custody certification as a result of this consultation are scheduled for release in February 2019.