Four Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Chain of Custody (CoC) audits will soon be carried out in South America
The audits, which will be carried out by Tom Bourner, MSC CoC Scheme manager for ME Certification Ltd (MEC), focus on anchovy processing and underline the growing demand for certification services in South America.
The first audit will be for Pranas S.A based in Mar del Plata, Argentina, that processes anchovies at its modern plant. Another Mar del Plata based anchovy processor – Nuevo Viento – will also be audited. Mar del Plata is one of Argentina’s biggest commercial fishing ports and the majority of the anchovy catch is destined for export markets.
The third audit will be a surveillance audit for Compañia Americana de Conservas based in Ica, Peru. This company too is a major South American anchovy processor and as well as the surveillance audit, MEC will carry out a new audit on one of its sub-contractors based in Tacna.
Mr Bourner said, “The MSC Chain of Custody standard ensures full traceability throughout the supply chain and there is a growing demand for such certification around the world, including South America.
“We are delighted that our expertise in chain of custody auditing has been recognised by these companies.”
