Friend of the Sea calls on COFI to address regulation of sustainable seafood claims

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations’ Committee on Fisheries (COFI) met this month for its 34^th session, covering topics relating to the state of the world’s sustainable fisheries and aquaculture operations. 

A subsidiary body of the FAO, COFI is the only inter-governmental forum where FAO members convene to review and consider the global issues and challenges related to fisheries and aquaculture, according to the body’s website. The collective provides periodic global recommendations and policy advice, such as its Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, which celebrates its 25^th anniversary this year.

When COFI convenes, it welcomes stakeholder observers to share statements and observations with the committee, an opportunity Friend of the Sea Director Paolo Bray took in 2021 to shed light on a topic of growing concern for the certification standard: the need for mandatory third-party certification and national accreditation to verify claims about seafood sustainability.

“COFI is a major forum for discussions of sustainable fisheries. For this reason, we felt it was an auspicious moment to make a statement about the importance of third-party certification," Bray said. "It is only with external audits that fish producers and consumers can feel confident that the industry is implementing environmentally friendly practices.” 

Consumers are being misled by “current unregulated, uncontrolled, and unverified seafood and ocean-derived products’ sustainability self- and second-party claims,” according to Friend of the Sea. These actions are creating unfair competition and blocking small-scale producers from accessing important markets, it said. 

“A standard’s recognition by the national accreditation bodies should be mandatory in order for producers to be authorized to make seafood and omega-3 sustainability claims. This process is widely accepted for organic and food safety standards worldwide. Friend of the Sea recommends governments to request standards’ recognition by national accreditation bodies and certification by accredited certification bodies as mandatory requirements for seafood and omega-3 sustainability claims,” Friend of the Sea said in its statement.  

Photo courtesy of Friend of the Sea