CREATING THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD FOR THE TRADE IN LIVE REEF FOOD FISH

1
CREATING THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD FOR THE TRADE
IN LIVE REEF FOOD FISH
2
PROJECT GOAL

• Build stakeholders consensus on what "best
  practices" needed.
• Establishing limitations of acceptability of an
  International Standard through extensive informal
  and formal consultations with industry, relevant
  government and non-government organizations and
  expertise in the LRFFT in both SE Asia and the
  Pacific

3
Scope of the Live Reef Food Fish Standard
4
STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

• Multi-stakeholder involvement achieved through
• Expert workshops
• Standards Advisory Group
• In-country consultative seminars and workshops
• In-country field-testing

5
RTs Kick off with Objectives Principles
6
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD OBJECTIVES

• Promote sustainable harvesting / production of
  fishery resources
• Be compliant with existing local and national
  (and international) authorities
• Recognize rights of fishers and other
  stakeholders
• Ensure stakeholder cooperation and involvement
• Recognize socio-economic, gender and poverty
  issues

7
STANDARDS STRUCTURE

• A Principle type approach was adopted in
  recognition of the need for the Standard to be a
  concise document
• A Standard that consists of bullet criteria with
  underlying descriptors
• A Standard augmented by supporting documentation
  including implementation guidance

8
The International LRFFT Standard
9
FINAL STANDARDS HIERARCHY

• The Standard comprised of bullet criteria or
  Requirements

• A compendium cross-referenced to the Standard
  through the Requirements consisting of
• Best-Practices for each Requirement
• LINKS to existing implementation guidance

10
WEBSITE
http//www.livefoodfishtrade.org
11
IS THERE A NEED TO STRENGTHEN THEINTERNATIONAL
LRFFT STANDARD?

• The Standard is 5 years old.
• Perception and acceptance of Responsible
  Fisheries has moved on in 5 years.
• Is The Standard Still Needed?
• Is The Standard Still Relevant?
• Are there lessons to be learnt from other
  programs to strengthen The Standard ?

12
Who Should Take The Lead?

• NGOs
• Consumers
• Government
• Demand Side Trade Associations
• Supply Side Fishers Groups
• ALL OF THE ABOVE

13
IMPLEMENTATION OPTIONS

• Establish multi-stakeholder ROUNDTABLE to
  manage implementation of the LRFFT Standard
• Maintain LRFFT Standard as a living document
  subject to revision and elaboration
• Conduct industry gap analysis along Chain of
  Custody
• Conduct outreach, capacity building and extension
  training programs

14
Roundtable outlook
MSC
FSC
15
(No Transcript)
16
Lessons from Roundtables

• Must have strong champions with stamina
• Manage expectations of stakeholders on timelines
• Balanced Representation, along value chain, is
  important
• Guard the consensus process jealously
• Be aware Race to the bottom
• Technical challenges will be a constant but
  political will help.
• Have a can-Do attitude
• Have money for dedicated secretariat
• MUST have a methodical, professional facilitators

17
Components of Roundtable by..

• Engage governments to introduce incentives for
  such MSIs such as waivers of duties/taxes in
  lieu of certification,
• Design a Monitoring and Evaluation Programme
  against the desired objectives of the standard.
  Design this from the very beginning
• Ensure enough resources are allocated to a
  professionally run a Roundtable. It should have
  KPIs.

18
INSANITY is Expecting Different Results by doing
the same things repeatedly
19
CONCLUSION

• OBJECTIVE
• Develop a credible and robust Standard for the
  Live Reef Food Fish Trade by building broad
  consensus on best-practices needed to enhance
  industry sustainability
• Extensive and open multi-stakeholder consultative
  process has guided Standards development over
  project duration
• Initial lack of support for concept overcome by
  inclusive approach to the Standards development
• Platform has been created for ongoing efforts to
  transform destructive aspects of the LRFFT
• Integrated supporting documentation (i.e. CD
  Toolkit) will facilitate more extensive
  dissemination of the Standard
• Dedicated website will enable wider stakeholder
  access to the Standard and ensure longevity

20
(No Transcript)
21
IMPLEMENTATION OPTIONS

• Possible implementation frameworks

• Industry member self-declaration (First-party
  certification)
• Maintains status quo - no improvement in current
  practices
• Seen as greenwash and has no credibility
• Trade association compliance (Second-party
  certification)
• Very difficult and expensive to run a credible
  program
• Often becomes a lowest common denominator rather
  than best practice program
• Seen as an exclusive club for members only
• Independent accreditation (Third-party
  certification)
• Highly credible as transparent, independent and
  includes third party verification
• Can be expensive and difficult to implement in
  the artisanal sector without specialist capacity
  building for certification