“Human rights are as central to the ASC mission as environmental responsibility," said ASC Human Rights Team Lead Clare Stevens.
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The Aquaculture Stewardship Council has opened a 30-day stakeholder consultation aimed at revising the ASC Chain of Custody (CoC) Module.
The consultation, which opened on 29 May, will run until 29 June 2025, and seeks input on key issues in the seafood supply chain, such as human rights, animal welfare and food safety, the ASC said.
“Human rights are as central to the ASC mission as environmental responsibility," ASC Human Rights Team Lead Clare Stevens said via a press release.
"As a high-risk activity for labour abuses and poor working conditions, processing is an area we want to focus on to strengthen protections throughout the supply chain," she explained.
The consultation is also intended to enable the CoC module to align with animal welfare requirements within the recently-launched ASC Farm Standard, since in some cases slaughter takes place at processing sites rather than at aquaculture facilities themselves.
“This addition to the ASC Chain of Custody Module will ensure that wherever slaughter occurs in ASC certified supply chains, the same strict animal welfare requirements will be applied," said ASC Standards Manager for Health and Welfare, Maria Filipa Castanheira.
The ASC said the consultation also aims to cover potential improvements to the food safety requirement, as well as alignment with the Marine Stewardship Council’s CoC review, which began in September 2023 and is expected to run until late 2026.
"The stakeholder consultation will also consider potential additions such as digital traceability and supply chain assurance for ASC Improver Programme products," the ASC stated.
"Given the breadth of topics, ASC is looking for feedback from supply chain companies such as processors and packers, supply chain companies who conduct slaughter operations, retailers, NGOs, unions and worker representatives and auditors or other assurance providers," the ASC said.
The ASC recently opened a separate public consultation to propose the inclusion of Atlantic cod in its certification and labelling programme, running until 20 May.
