FAO in collaboration with several government agencies of the United States of America, concluded the Consultative Workshop on Developing FAO Guidelines for Aquaculture Certification on the 30th May 2008. This workshop, held in Silver Springs Washington DC from 29-30 May 2008, is the sixth and the last in a series of meetings/workshops conducted by FAO in partnership with NACA, through which FAO is seeking stakeholder input toward the development of international guidelines for aquaculture certification. This workshop provided the opportunity for input and open discussion among interested stakeholders as part of a global consultative process to develop international guidelines for the certification of aquaculture products. This workshop focused mainly on the North America region (USA and Canada) as a major global seafood market with many diverse stakeholders in certification in aquaculture. This workshop provided the opportunity for dialogue between the secretariat, producing country representatives, and stakeholders in the North American seafood supply chain.

The workshop assessed the status, opportunities and mechanisms for enhanced partnerships within supply chains to support change, and as may be necessary, to assist aquaculture certification in producing countries. The workshop also reviewed the most recent version of the draft aquaculture certification guidelines.

The draft aquaculture certification guidelines will be presented by FAO to its member governments for discussion and consideration at the upcoming Fourth Session of the COFI Sub-Committee on Aquaculture, to be held in Puerto Varas, Chile in October 2008.

Presentations from the workshop are available for download.