FAO Guidelines for Ecolabelling in Wild-Capture Fisheries - SEAFOOD Ecolabelling: Principles and Practice - page 74

and countries in transition, including financial and technical assistance, tech-
nology transfer, and training and scientific cooperation.

Methodological aspects
Assessing current state and trends in target stocks

32a. There are many ways in which state and trends in stocks may be evaluated,

that fall short of the highly quantitative and data-demanding approaches to fish
stock assessment that are often used in developed countries. Use of less elab-
orate methods for stock assessment frequently used for inland capture
fisheries should not preclude them from possible certification for ecola-
belling . However it should be noted that, to the extent that the application of
such methods may result in greater uncertainty about the state of the 'stock
under consideration', more precautionary approaches to managing such re-
sources could be required which may necessitate lower levels of utilization of
the resource. There are a variety of management measures commonly used in
small-scale or low-value fisheries that nonetheless can achieve quite adequate
levels of protection for stocks in the face of uncertainty about the state of the
resource.

32b. Stock assessment of enhanced or culture-based fisheries should not focus

on the hatchery output but more on the recruitment of hatchery fish to
the fishery and on the contribution of natural reproduction.

3.3.6 Procedural and institutional aspects
This part of the guidelines addresses the three principal procedural and institutional
matters that any ecolabelling scheme should encompass: (1) the setting of certifi-
cation standards, (2) the accreditation of independent certifying bodies and (3) the
certification that a fishery and the product chain of custody are in conformity with
the required standard and procedures.
Except for the issue of an independent panel as an ultimate appellate body, con-
sensus on this part of the guidelines was reached early in the negotiation process.
From the beginning of the ecolabelling discussion in FAO forums, countries sup-
ported the principle of independent and transparent third-party certification through
competent, reliable and accountable bodies. Many of the provisions in this section
are geared towards assuring the application of this principle.
In this context, it is notable that some countries felt strongly the need for MSC to
adjust its governance structure in order to assure complete independence between
its functions as the owner and promoter of an ecolabelling scheme and the func-
tions of accreditation and certification, including the sensitive aspect of dealing
with complaints. In order to achieve consistency with the FAO guidelines, MSC
has subsequently appointed an independent objections panel chair to ensure the
impartiality of any panels formed to hear appeals against proposed certification
decisions. This appointment served to separate the objections process and related
decisions from the MSC's Board of Trustees (MSC 2006).