Shrimp producer, Quoc Viet, has become the first farm to enter into assessment against the ASC Shrimp Standard for well-managed and responsible farms. If successful, Quoc Viet will be eligible carry the ASC logo on it products.
Quoc Viet supplies customers from the US, Japan, EU, Australia, Canada, Korea, South East Asia and other countries. In 2013 the company supplied 15,000mt of shrimp and it aims to increase that to 20,000t in 2014.
Vietnam is the third biggest exporter of farmed shrimp globally. Around 90 per cent of its total volume is exported. The family-owned business, based in Camau Province Vietnam, has been working with WWF Vietnam to support small scale shrimp farms in improving their own operations as they aim to also achieve ASC certification.
“For us as a family business it is fundamental that our farming systems are operating responsibly with minimal environmental and social impacts. It’s the right thing to do,” said Ngo Quoc Tuan, Vice President, Quoc Viet.
“Our reputation relies on the quality of our product. ASC is globally recognised and has rigorous criteria. With ASC certification we will be able to show to our customers that our farm is managed responsibly and that will have been confirmed through independent audit.”
The ASC Shrimp Standard was handed over earlier this year following an extensive period of development involving many stakeholders globally. “We are delighted that Quoc Viet has entered its farm for ASC assessment,” said Chris Ninnes, ASC’s CEO. “For ASC this is another milestone – an achievement which is thanks to the hard work Quoc Viet has put in to reach assessment and the dedication and work of the shrimp dialogue members who produced the standard.
“Through the application of the ASC Shrimp Standard I hope to see the growth of responsible shrimp aquaculture; which will benefit the environment, consumers, producers and supply chain.”
Stakeholder consultation
Quoc Viet’s farm audit is due to take place 16-17 June 2014. The assessment of Quoc Viet’s farm against the ASC Shrimp Standard will be carried out by an independent third party certifier, Control Union. This guarantees complete impartiality.
As part of the audit Control Union invites stakeholders to comment [link to public disclosure form] on the audit.
The announcement of the audit will remain online for at least 30 days before the actual audit. Once the farm has been assessed the draft farm audit report will be published on ASC’s website for a minimum of 10 working days on.
During this comments period, objections can be raised with the certifier who may include these considerations in an updated version of the audit report.
The decision of whether or not the farm can become certified will be based on the last version of the report.
The final audit report will be published on the ASC website.
More to come
Since Quoc Viet entered assessment three more shrimp farms have also entered the ASC programme. The three farms, based in Ecuador, belong to the family-owned company Omarsa. The farms’ audits are scheduled for June.
Source: Aquaculture Stewardship Council
