Coinciding with IFFO's Annual Conference being held this week in Cape Town, South Africa, MarinTrust has launched 'Version 3 MarinTrust Global Standard for Responsible Supply of Marine Ingredients'. According to the program, this new version of its factory standard, also known as V3, lays the foundation for full traceability of marine ingredients.
Likewise, MarineTrust also highlights that this V3 advances the standard's focus on environmental and social impacts, both at the factory and on the vessels supplying the whole fish. Moreover, the new standard also aims to increase the accessibility of responsibly sourced and produced marine ingredients and encourage the use of by-products.
To ensure the credibility of its factory standard for marine ingredients, MarinTrust facilitated multi-stakeholder participation through a 60-day public consultation opened from May 4 to July 3, 2023. The result was a public report thanks to 22 responses provided by a broad group of stakeholders from around the world.
"This version comes towards the end of a rigorous, long-term development process, closely overseen by MarinTrust’s multi-stakeholder Governing Body Committee," said Libby Woodhatch, Executive Chair of MarinTrust. "It included pilot assessments across the world and feedback from key marine ingredient stakeholders to enhance the consistency and robustness of audits," she explained.
As mentioned, the factory standard’s new version will be effective on 1st May 2024, however the program emphasizes that there will be a transition period for sites that are already certified.
"This date [May 1, 2024] marks the day when all sites applying for a MarinTrust certification or a certification renewal will have to comply with the updated requirements," said Francisco Aldon, CEO of MarinTrust. "As for the sites already certified against the MarinTrust Factory Standard, 1st May 2024 marks the start of a year-long transition period, allowing for adjustments to be made by every factory until 1st May 2025," he explained.
MarinTrust a program dedicated to marine ingredient production factories, enabling them to gain recognition for their sourcing and production of marine ingredients. Their goal is to improve responsible fishery sourcing and production of marine ingredients on a global scale, and they aim to achieve this through an accessible certification program. Its ambition is for 75% of all marine ingredients to be MarinTrust certified, in application, in assessment, or in the MarinTrust Improver Programme by 2025.
