Certifications are essential for meeting future demands on farmed seafood

BioMar builds on base-level ISO 9001 certification at all production locations, all for the benefit of both BioMar and our customers. ISO 9001 is a dynamic system, which implies that quality assurance is an ongoing process that is on our agenda every day. This ensures continuous improvement and streamlining of our processes and routines.

ISO 9001 is a globally recognized standard for quality management. It is the most widely used quality management standard in the world. It helps organizations of all sizes and sectors to improve their performance, meet customer expectations and demonstrate their commitment to quality. Its requirements define how to establish, implement, maintain, and continually improve a quality management system.

BAP - Best Aquaculture Practices - is the only aquaculture certification program in the world that certifies every step of the production chain, including processing plants, farms, hatcheries, and feed mills. Following our customers’ requests, the BAP certificate is hold by various BioMar production sites throughout the world. 

When end consumers shop for seafood products, looking for the BAP label is a way to know that their seafood was produced meeting strict standards relative to the environment, the workers, and the animals themselves.  

BAP is recognized and trusted by more than 150 retail and foodservice companies worldwide and it provides access to BAP Marketing Toolkit, which includes specific assets for BAP certified aquaculture producers. This seafood-specific certification program addresses the four key areas of responsible seafood, i.e. environmental responsibility, social accountability, food safety, and animal health & welfare, with traceability as the foundation.  

For any BioMar production site certified according to the GLOBALG.A.P. Compound Feed Manufacturing standard the certification will make it easier for BioMar customers to obtain themselves the GLOBALG.A.P. certificate. This certificate enables them to supply the growing number of processors and retailers that require the GLOBALG.A.P. certification for the fish or shrimp they sell to the consumers.

GLOBALG.A.P is a private sector body that offers a comprehensive set of internationally recognized voluntary standards for primary production and the supply chain, aiming at safer and more sustainable farming practices.

In the supply chain of aquaculture, the GLOBAL G.A.P. certification of production processes respond to consumer concerns on feed & food safety, environmental protection, workers health, safety, and welfare, and animal welfare.

The GLOBALG.A.P non-GM/“Ohne Gentechnik” Add-on enables aquaculture producers, feed manufacturers, and other aquaculture supply chain stakeholders such as processors to demonstrate that their products are free from genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

On many markets, including the EU, it is, formally speaking, legal to use GMO material in the production of aquaculture feed. However, across the food production value chain the use of GMOs is under continued scrutiny, be it from NGOs, end consumers or other.

In the fish and shrimp farming sector this situation engenders requirements for feed not containing GMO material and to increase the visibility of production practices that are genetically modified organism-free. BioMar production locations that hold the certificate of conformity to the GLOBALG.A.P. non-GM/“Ohne Gentechnik” Add-on offer our customers a specific assurance based on their interests and preferences. This certification complements existing certification requirements and thus does not complicate supply chains. In BioMar, it is audited in combination with our standard GLOBALG.A.P. solution.

Carrefour, a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation, has put in place processes for ensuring the high quality, compliance and safety of its products. To ensure compliance with their aims right across the production and distribution chain, suppliers - including suppliers of aquaculture products -, need to be in line with Carrefour product specifications. Carrefour also uses certifications to provide consumers with guarantees in relation to product quality and traceability. Moreover, Carrefour aims for eliminating substances considered controversial for people’s health and the environment, reduce the use of pesticides, and exclude GMOs.

BioMar production sites holding a Carrefour product certification can supply feeds to fish and shrimp farmers, ensuring that our customers can utilise feeds that are in line with given Carrefour products specifications. This way BioMar is contributing to the ability of our customers to comply with the requirements set for providing aquaculture products to consumers that do their purchases in Carrefour stores.

The mission of ASC - Aquaculture Stewardship Counsil - is to transform the industry of farmed seafood towards environmental sustainability and social responsibility. ASC is an impact-driven NGO that sets strict global standards for seafood farming. ASC standards apply at every step, from the production of the feed to the fish or shrimp farm as well as ensuring traceability through the supply chain right until the product lands on the shelf at the local supermarket.

Aquaculture producers choose the ASC programme for greater access to global market demand. The ASC-label has become recognised and trusted with consumers and in the aquaculture industry worldwide, boosting seafood sales opportunities. It has become a well-known symbol guaranteeing that the farmed seafood purchased by the consumers have been produced with care.

The ASC Feed Standard was released in June 2021 and updated in January 2023. The ASC has defined a transition period between the Farm and Feed Standards until October 2025. During this period, ASC certified farmers will have to source their feed from an ASC-compliant feed mill.

Implementation of the ASC Feed Standard is a high priority for BioMar for several reasons. After nearly a decade on the ASC Feed Standard Steering Committee, we are very motivated to see the standard implemented. In addition, BioMar’s customer portfolio includes hundreds of thousands of tons of aquafeed for ASC certified fish and shrimp farms across every division. Those customers expect us to deliver. BioMar is therefore targeting to achieve ASC Feed Standard certification for most of our factories by October 2025.