ESE Joint Ceremony Celebrating the ASC Certification of 11 Taiwanese Tilapia Farms

Today the ASC hosted a joint ceremony with the Taiwan Frozen Seafood Industries Association and the Taiwan Tilapia Alliance (T2A) at the European Seafood Exposition 2013, celebrating the ASC certification of 11 Taiwanese tilapia farms. The farms were certified to be in conformance to the ASC Tilapia Standard by the certification body IMO (the Institute for Marketecology). This certification marks the first group of farms to be ASC certified in Taiwan R.O.C.

As part of the ceremony, Mr. Chris Ninnes, CEO of the ASC signed an official recognition of the accomplishment for Mr. Juh-ing Hsu – Secretary General of the Taiwan Frozen Seafood Industries Association and Mr. Frank C. H. Tsai – Chairman of the Taiwan Tilapia Alliance (T2A). Additional copies were handed over for each of the 11 ASC certified Taiwanese tilapia farms.

Chris Ninnes – CEO of the ASC stated, “we are delighted to join with the Taiwan Tilapia Alliance and the Taiwan Frozen Seafood Industries Association in a ceremony at the ESE officially recognising the 11 Taiwanese tilapia farms which were awarded certification to the ASC Tilapia Standard on 14 March 2013. Conformance to the rigorous and robust ASC Tilapia Standard demonstrates these farms have made a commitment to incorporating responsible environmental and social practices into their operations. We are pleased to take this opportunity to mark this achievement and the upcoming availability of ASC certified Taiwanese tilapia products to international markets.”

Mr. Juh-ing Hsu – Secretary General of the Taiwan Frozen Seafood Industries Association reciprocated, “It is a pleasure to take this opportunity on behalf of our members to extend our congratulations to the 11 farms in the Nan Ying Aquaculture Association. We look forward to promoting ASC certified tilapia from Taiwan here at the European Seafood Exposition and on other occasions globally in the future.”

Mr. Frank C. H. Tsai – Chairman of the Taiwan Tilapia Alliance (T2A) commented, “The Taiwan Tilapia Alliance and Taiwan Frozen Seafood Industries Association have long recognised the importance of responsible practices for the Taiwanese farmed tilapia industry. We are therefore delighted with the achievement of ASC certification by the 11 farms in the Nan Ying Aquaculture Association.”

Mr. Peter Chiang, Founder of Hanaqua Tech and a member of the Taiwan Tilapia Alliance sent these words from Taiwan, “We look forward to providing the global market with ASC certified tilapia from Taiwan and envision this accomplishment as a model which will serve to encourage other farmers to strive for ASC certification in the future.”