As the market for sustainable seafood grows, consumers are increasingly demanding to know their fish are sourced from responsible fisheries or farms. This has contributed to retailers making commitments to source and sell certified product. With the rise in the demand for traceability, assure your supply chain and consumers that fish can be traced to its sustainable source with Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), or Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) Chain of Custody certification.
By becoming CoC certified, your business will be able to:
To be CoC-certified your organization must have procedures and record keeping in place where you can demonstrate to an auditor that you’ve:
Submit application
Submit an application. SCS prepares a proposal that includes the scope and cost of the audit. Sign and return the proposal to begin the project.
Pre-Audit
Become familiar with the requirements then review your operations, developing additional procedures, training and record keeping as needed to ensure you can demonstrate to an auditor that you have:
On-site Audit
An SCS auditor visits your facilities to review your organization's control systems and records from a sample of transactions to verify traceability. The auditor then prepares an audit report.
Corrective Actions
Based on findings in the audit report, SCS issues corrective action requests as applicable. Your organization must respond to any non-conformities raised.
Certification Decision
SCS reviews the audit report as well as evidence of implementation of corrective actions before rendering a final certification decision. Successful applicants are issued a CoC certificate and can sell certified product and promote their certification.
Surveillance Audits
CoC certification is granted for three years and requires surveillance audits at 12 or 18 month intervals relative to the risk of your operations.
All companies in the supply chain from boat to plate that wish to sell ASC or MSC certified products must have a Chain of Custody (CoC) certification. If you wish to sell products that bear the MSC or ASC certification marks, you must have a CoC certification to ensure traceability.
Organizations that earn MSC or ASC certification from SCS may use the Kingfisher MSC or ASC labels on their products or promotional items. The Kingfisher is SCS’ on-product mark that communicates the certification achieved as well as a high quality assessment process. The Kingfisher is gaining recognition and appeal in the marketplace. Certification mark use guidelines and images are provided upon achieving certification.
Prices for SCS auditing services vary depending on the location, size and complexity of your operation. Companies applying for multiple SCS services enjoy price discounts due to efficiencies (e.g., MSC Chain of Custody and Seafood HACCP). Please ask your sales associate about the types of certifications that might benefit your company.
Customer service and responsiveness is our priority. We typically are able to send our auditors to your facility, provide you with an audit report, and make a certification decision within 6 to 8 weeks of starting the project. Larger and more complex projects may take longer.
Certification is granted for a three year period, with annual surveillance audits to confirm continued compliance with the MSC and ASC Chain of Custody standard requirements.