Global traceability platform launches at Seafood Expo Global

Nissui and Sea Delight are two of the leading seafood firms participating in the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability, which launched a new web-based platform at Seafood Expo Global on 26 April.

Several companies from throughout the supply chain in the Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia have applied to join the dialogue’s process and adopt voluntary standards and guidelines for seafood traceability systems. Participants include China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance (CAPPMA), Metro Group and The Fishin’ Company.

Organized by the World Wildlife Fund and the Institute of Food Technologists’ Global Food Traceability Centre, the dialogue’s web platform will facilitate virtual and face-to-face meetings of working groups that will design a new voluntary seafood traceability framework.

“The dialogue is being initiated to confront a long-standing problem in the seafood industry – the absence of an accepted technical framework to align proprietary seafood traceability systems and to guide the harmonization of emerging national traceability standards,” the WWF said in a statement. “If successful, the dialogue will enable dramatic improvements in efficient, and flexible seafood traceability, allowing business and regulatory systems around the world to work together smoothly.” 

Organizers will host a technical workshop in Bangkok, Thailand, next week, followed by an informational meeting during the SeaWeb Seafood Summit in Seattle, Washington, taking place 5 to 7 June.

“Companies around the world have been looking for ways to lower costs and improve access to reliable seafood traceability without getting trapped into inflexible proprietary systems,” said David Schorr, senior manager of WWF’s Transparent Seas Project, at Seafood Expo Global. “As other globalized industries have found, the key is a framework of voluntary global traceability standards.”

Traceability is increasingly necessary for meeting sustainability commitments and combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, according to WWF. 

“Knowing where fish products come from is key to smart procurement of seafood and the only route to an effective global traceability network is through industry. The seafood sector will drive this conversation; we’ve just built the infrastructure for them to get on their way,” Schorr said.

Photo credit: Meridith Kohut/ WWF-US