Certification Programme

The ASC Certification Programme is a voluntary third-party certification programme consisting of the following independent actors:

Scheme Owner: Aquaculture Stewardship Council

As scheme owner, ASC sets and maintains standards and associated assurance documents and their underpinning procedures, as well documents and resources that support the implementation of the Certification Programme.

An overview of all documents and the latest version can be found on the ASC Controlled Document Master List.

Conformity Assessment Body: Provide certification services in accordance with the requirements of this scheme.

The legal entity responsible for the Unit of Certification (UoC), contracts a Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) which employs auditor(s) that conduct an independent conformity assessment (hereafter ‘audit’) of the UoC against the relevant ASC standard.

The management requirements for CABs as well as auditor competency requirements are described in the CAR and are assured through accreditation.

Integrity Services Provider and Accreditation Body:

The Integrity Services Provider is appointed by ASC to oversee the integrity of the programme.

Integrity services and accreditation are currently provided by Assurance Services International (ASI). Findings of ASI assessments and an overview of currently accredited CABs are available on the ASI website.33http://www.asi-assurance.org/s/