FAO Guidelines for Ecolabelling in Wild-Capture Fisheries - SEAFOOD Ecolabelling: Principles and Practice - page 66

3.3.3 General considerations

The intention of this section is to create, to the extent possible, an equal playing field
among countries by, inter alia, recognising the special conditions and requirements
of developing countries and countries in transition on the one hand, while calling
for one unique minimum standard on the other, in order to avoid any notion of
superior or inferior categories of ecolabelled fish and fishery products.
The section also addresses the view of many governments that they should be
fully involved, not just individually but also as members of Regional Fisheries
Management Organizations (RFMOs), in ecolabelling schemes. It recognises that
governments play, or need to play, a paramount and often indispensable role in
fisheries management.
Some proponents of the MSC, in its initial phase, pictured private ecolabelling
schemes as an alternative to weak, failing or entirely absent fisheries management
by government. This was succinctly expressed by Sutton and Whitfield (1996):
'Governments, laws and treaties aside, the market itself will begin to determine the
means of fish production'. Most government observers did not have such a sanguine
view of ecolabelling. A perhaps over-optimistic outlook on fisheries ecolabelling
was the basis of the commitment of Unilever to only purchase certified fish and
fishery products from 2005 onwards. Unilever was not able to stand by its com-
mitment and in the meantime has divested itself from most of its food business,
including fish.
In the strict sense, RFMOs do not exist for inland capture fisheries, but the
inland fisheries experts agreed to adopt throughout the text of the guidelines the
wider term of regional fishery body (RFB) applicable to both RFMOs as well as to
bodies having purely advisory functions.

4. Ecolabelling schemes should take into account that principles, minimum sub-

stantive requirements, criteria and procedures set out in this document will apply
equally for developed, transition and developing countries.

5. Bearing in mind that ecolabelling schemes relate to fisheries management, and

rights and duties of States, it is recognized that the involvement of States in eco-
labelling schemes is desirable and should be encouraged. It is also recognized
that States and, as appropriate, Regional Fisheries Management Organizations
(RFMOs) [regional fishery bodies (RFBs)] may develop ecolabelling schemes
in a manner consistent with these guidelines. Ecolabelling schemes should give
full consideration to the recommendations and advice by States, and, as appro-
priate, RFMOs [RFBs] .

6. In accordance with Article 5 of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries,

and recognizing that all countries should have the same opportunities, and in
view of the special conditions applying to developing countries and countries
in transition and their important contribution to international fish trade, it is ac-
knowledged that in order to benefit from applying ecolabelling schemes, states,
relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and financial
institutions should provide developing countries and countries in transition with