INTERPLAY OF GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS AND ECOLABELING

Seafood ecolabeling to date has fundamentally been the purview of private organizations.  However, various governmental organizations have either created policy oversight to prevent misuse of ecolabeling or to provide assistance in the formulation of ecolabeling standards.

The United Nations has recognized ecolabeling as an important mechanism for sustainable development. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been active in developing codes of conduct, as well as guidelines for ecolabeling and certification, related to fisheries and aquaculture (see below).

• FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries

• FAO Fisheries Department: The Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries and Post-Harvest Practices and Trade

• FAO Guidelines for the Ecolabeling of Fish and Fishery Products (2005)

• FAO Guidelines for Aquaculture Certification (Draft version 3.4)

• FAO, NACA, UNEP, WB, WWF “International Principles for Responsible Shrimp Farming.” 2006.

No government currently requires ecolabeled seafood, therefore all ecolabeling programs remain voluntary.  While these voluntary ecolabeling programs do not violate World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, there is still concern that voluntary ecolabeling programs could create technical barriers to trade, particularly market access for products of developing countries into developed nations.  As a result, the WTO has produced a number of publications responding to this issue:

• World Trade Organization Submissions on Trade and Environment
  • 2001 Doha Declaration Paragraph 32(iii) and Committee on Trade and Environment Work Programme Item 3: Ecolabelling
• World Trade Organization ENVIRONMENT: ISSUES: Labelling

Following the lead of the FAO and WTO, the European Union created their own minimum requirements for voluntary ecolabeling programs to follow. 

• European Commission Eco-label
• European Union Eco-label Scheme

Independent certification programs provide consumers with additional information from non-governmental voices and may also go beyond the scope of what government agencies monitor. For example, there are now aquaculture ecolabels like the Global Aquaculture Alliance (see Ecolabeling or www.gaalliance.org) that not only look at whether best management practices are followed in the farming of seafood, but also whether the workers are paid fair wages.

RESOURCES DATABASE

The Resources Database on this website provide a searchable database of literature that includes reports, peer-reviewed journal articles, and other relevant documents. The interested reader is suggested to investigate this database for more detailed reading or to contact the Director of the URI Sustainable Seafood Initiative, Dr. Cathy Roheim for more information.

Contact: Professor Cathy A. Roheim
URI Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
crw@uri.edu.