Friend of the Sea has announced that it''s Technical Committee has voted and approved changes to its criteria to include new and even more stringent requirements, which include a mandatory yearly reduction of at least 20% of the carbon footprint of the audited production.
The audited organisation will now have to have its products’ carbon footprint assessed by an accredited third party no later than 12 months after certification. The Friend of the Sea yearly surveillance audit will then verify that the organisation is offsetting or reducing its product’s carbon footprint by at least 20% every year.
“Friend of the Sea has already implemented a similar requirement as a recommendation and, in fact, several certified companies, such as Omega Proteins Inc., Clean Seas and Frinsa, have already put in place a constant energy consumption reduction program, in some cases as part of their ISO 14001 certification,” explains Dr Bray, Friend of the Sea director. “We have now gone a step further and made this footprint reduction mandatory for Friend of the Sea certification - a brave decision which might preclude certification of some producers, but will motivate others to lower their environmental impact.”
