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The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), an international non-profit organisation that protects oceans and safeguard seafood supplies through its sustainable fisheries standard, now recognises the BRCGS Ethical Trading and Responsible Sourcing standard.
As part of the MSC Chain of Custody (CoC) requirements, organisations are required to submit a self-assessment report or complete an on-site third-party labour audit, unless they can demonstrate that they are at ‘low risk’ of forced or child labour. These audits must be carried out on-site by an independent third-party certification body against a standard recognised by the MSC. Organisations that self-report must be open to an MSC commissioned audit by a third-party certification body.
Following the recent announcement that BRCGS has been approved by the Consumer Goods Forum’s Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative (SSCI) as the first standard to be recognised as compliant with key sustainability criteria defined by leading industry stakeholders in its evaluation methods, the MSC has identified the BRCGS Global Standard as a standard that can be used by certificate holders to meet MSC requirements. SSCI provides trusted guidance on which schemes are credible and trustworthy. This recognition has therefore given MSC the necessary confidence that the BRCGS programme delivers results and credible assessments.
More than 150 million children and 25 million adults are involved in forced labour around the world. This collaboration provides seafood buyers and consumers with greater assurances that companies handling certified seafood do not employ forced or child labour.
The programme is relevant to any supply chain businesses wishing to handle certified seafood.
There are currently over 4,500 seafood companies and subcontractors, in more than 45,000 sites in around 100 countries, to handle seafood for sale with MSC certification.
Find out more about the MSC Third-Party Labour Audit Requirements.