How to get certified/accredited?
General information on ASC certfication
ASC applies a third-party certification system, meaning that certification of fish farms and fish product suppliers is being done by independent certifiers.
These certifiers are accredited and monitored by an independent accreditation organization, Accreditation Services International.
This ensures our program is robust, credible and meets best practice guidelines for standard-setting organizations as set out by ISEAL and FAO.
Please click below for more information on:
Farm certification:
1. Read the pre-audit checklist for the relevant species standard
The pre-audit checklist includes all requirements a farm must meet before assessment by a certification organization. Download the relevant species specific pre-audit checklist here.
2. Contact several certifiers for audit quotes
All contact information of accredited certifiers can be found here.
Please note: only certifiers with "Farm single site" in their scope, are accredited for farm audits (!).
Please note: it is recommend to ask several certifiers to submit their audit quotes (!).
3. Confirm/contract preferred certifier
Confirm to your preferred certifier.
4. Prepare farm for audit
During an audit a farm will be assessed against a specific ASC Standard.
It is recommended to familiarise yourself with the species specific ASC Standard, as well as with the species specific pre-audit checklist.
Supplier certification:
If your company would like to join the ASC Chain of Custody certification programme there are certain steps that you need to follow. To help you get started we have outlined the main steps that you need to take to become ASC Chain of Custody certified below.
1. Contact certifiers to get quotes for the audit
We recommend that you ask more than one certifier to submit quotes for the work. To see a list of certifiers accredited for ASC Chain of Custody audits click here.
If your company is already working with a specific certifier, you can check with them if they are accredited to carry out Chain of Custody audits for ASC certified seafood.
2. Appoint your chosen certifier that will assess your company
Once you have got quotes from the certifiers you have contacted, you can enter into an agreement with one of them directly. ASC is not involved in this.
3. Prepare for the Chain of Custody audit
Once you have appointed a certifier you should start to prepare for the assessment. In the audit you must be able to show that ASC certified seafood does not get mixed with non-ASC certified seafood at any stage of the production and that ASC certified seafood can be traced from an invoice to your certified supplier and vice versa. The MSC has developed the ‘Get Certified!' guidance document to help you prepare for your Chain of Custody certification.
CB accreditation:
Only accredited certifiers can conduct assessments against the ASC Standards for responsible farmed seafood and/or Chain of Custody standard.
ASC works with Accreditation Services International GmbH (ASI) for the accreditation of third-party independent certifiers.
If you are a certifier and you want to get accredited please contact ASI:
ASI - Accreditation Services International GmbH
Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 65
53113 Bonn, Germany
Phone: +49-228/227237
Fax: +49-228/227237-30
info@accreditation-services.com
Website ASI
For more information
More information can be found in the ASC Quick Start Guide.
Also find the Frequently Asked Questions.