June 7, 2013
Thailand to tighten regulations on fishmeal production
Thai Department of Fisheries, Thai Feedmill Association, Thai Fishmeal Association and IFFO agreed to form a Thai industry/government roundtable, which aims to improve fishery management and assess fishmeal plants for IFFO Responsible Supply (RS) certificate.
The meeting recognised the need to demonstrate responsible fishmeal production following concerns raised by customers, NGOs and media over the sustainability of fishing and raw materials in fishmeal production. The IFFO RS certification was presented at the meeting to encourage the use of responsibly-sourced raw materials and good factory management, including full traceability and exclusion of illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fish.
The first phase of certification will focus on fishmeal produced from the recycled trimmings in seafood processing, which makes up 60% or 180,000 tonnes of the fishmeal from Thailand. The second phase, which covers whole fish raw material, will begin once the guidance on tropical mixed trawl fisheries is available.
To enter assessment for the IFFO RS standard, companies must apply for IFFO membership. Charoen Pokhpand Foods (CPF) Ltd, a major producer of feed in South East Asia and China and a key stakeholder in the Thai roundtable, has already decided to join IFFO with a plan to entering one or more of its plants for certification.
A further roundtable meeting is being planned for July 2013.