ASC Group Requirements for Farms

ASC Group Requirements for Farms

Vocabulary use

Intentional language is used in this document to ensure clarity in the following areas:

  • Modal verbs
    • ‘Shall’ denotes a requirement
    • ‘Should denotes a recommendation
    • ‘May’ denotes a permitted course of action
    • ‘Can’ denotes a possible course of action
  • Appropriate vs. Adequate
    • ‘Appropriate’ refers to what is suitable or proper for a particular need
    • ‘Adequate’ refers to what is sufficient to meet a need
  • ‘And’ vs. ‘Or’ in lists
    • ‘And’ implies inclusiveness (all items are required)
    • ‘Or’ implies exclusiveness (only one of the items is required)

Scope

This document outlines the requirements for eligibility and collective certification against the ASC Farm Standard by a group of aquaculture production sites. The requirements provide the overarching framework for a central Internal Management System (IMS) to oversee the conformity to the ASC Farm Standard at all the sites and coordinate the Group’s certification process to apply for, obtain and maintain certification for a Group.

Certification Type

There are two Group certification types for ASC Farm Standard certification:

A)

Group – Option 1

B)

Group – Option 2

The requirements for these certification types are detailed in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Requirements for Group Certification Types for ASC Farm Certification

Certification Type
Req.Group Option 1Group Option 2
1The Client’s Unit of Certification (UoC) consists of more than one farm site, controlled by a central Internal Management System (IMS) which is managed by a Group Management Body (GMB).The Client’s Unit of Certification (UoC) consists of more than one site controlled by a central Internal Management System (IMS) which is managed by a Group Management Body (GMB).

The sites are predominantly small- scale producers.
2The IMS shall be audited at every routineConformity Assessment Body (CAB) audit. A sample of sites within the UoC shall be selected for every routine CAB audit against the ASC Farm Standard.
3The Client shall identify a GMB with a defined location, which is not necessarily the headquarters of the organisation. The group management function shall not be sub-contracted to an external organisation.The Client is the GMB. The GMB shall be a legal entity or a statutory body within a larger legal entity, or another form of legally recognised organisation i.e. registered with a government office.

The GMB shall have a defined location, which is not necessarily the headquarters of the organisation.

The group management function shall not be sub-contracted to an external organisation.
4The Client (Certificate Holder22Client granted ASC certification for a specific UoC.) shall be capable of signing a binding contract that is legally enforceable.
5The Client shall be the only entity authorised to sell ASC certified product.
6The sites shall be owned by the Client or can be sub-contracted; the Client shall retain ownership of the ASC product until it is sold outside the UoC.The sites shall have a Farming Agreement with the Client (GMB).

In these cases, the farmer owns the ASC product and shall sell the ASC product to the Client before the Client can sell the ASC certified product outside the UoC.

If the farmer sells the site’s product directly to another third party, the product cannot be sold as ASC certified.

Farmers can be responsible for the operation of either single or multiple small-scale production sites.
7The sites shall have clearly defined boundaries as described in the associated legal licences and permits and may include multiple pens, cages, ponds, tanks, raceway systems or beds.
8All sites in the UoC shall operate within the same jurisdiction or within neighbouring jurisdictions that share relevant common regulations.
9The GMB shall be responsible for managing the central internal management system (IMS) and of assuring conformity against ASC Requirements of all sites within the UoC.