Food Certification Scotland Ltd (FCS) – a third party food sector inspection and certification body - has successfully completed a management buyout that will provide the company with a strong platform for diversification into new areas of operation.
FCS is best known for providing accredited independent product conformity certification to the Scottish farmed salmon sector, including its Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status, the Tartan Quality Mark for fresh and smoked salmon, and the prestigious Label Rouge designation for Scottish farmed salmon sold on the French market.
Most recently FCS was contracted in 2006 to oversee the implementation and certification of the new Code of Good Practice for Scottish Finfish Aquaculture in its role as lead certification body.
The buyout from the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation will further strengthen the independence of FCS and enable it to diversify the inspection and certification services it offers across a broad range of standards relevant to the aquaculture, fisheries and seafood processing sectors.
It will also enable FCS to move into other sectors of the aquaculture, agriculture and food industries through both the provision of tailored product quality schemes as well as certification to other recognised standards, including the British Retail Consortium Global Food Standard, EurepGAP and Environmental Management Systems.
Martin Gill, FCS executive director, said: “This is great news for FCS and provides an excellent opportunity to really diversify our scope of operation. There is now a huge amount of interest from food producers from all sectors in achieving conformity with recognised standards and voluntary codes of good practice to satisfy both customer and consumer demand for provenance, sustainability and environmental responsibility.”
As well as Scotland, FCS also operates throughout the rest of the UK and internationally through its subsidiary Food Certification International Ltd (FCI).
Currently in the process of becoming fully accredited as a certification body for the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries, FCI is currently working with major Swedish fishing company Astrid Fiske AB and associated processing companies on their progress through full MSC assessment of the Swedish North Sea purse seine fishery.
Also recently confirmed is FCI’s appointment as the certification body for the full MSC assessment of the North Sea herring and Western mackerel fisheries on behalf of the Scottish Pelagic Sustainability Group. These two fisheries constitute the two largest fisheries in the UK both in terms of tonnage and value. Several other fisheries are also currently undergoing pre-assessment to the MSC standards.
