Ecolabelling Guidelines Misused as Certification Standards
July 2012

(Washington, DC) — The Environmental Law Institute today released a study clarifying that international fisheries and aquaculture ecolabelling codes of conduct and guidelines cannot be used as seafood certification standards. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) maintains a Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries Management designed to assist governments in creating fisheries management policy, as well as institutional and substantive guidelines that provide a framework for the proper structure and operation of seafood ecolabelling and certification systems.