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European buyer viewed certification as a more reliable regulatory mechanism than
suppliers' self-assessment. Thus, from the European buyer's perspective, having the
project certified would better guarantee that the shrimp were produced sustainably.
SN, as well as some shrimp farmers, viewed the opportunity to sell shrimp in Europe
as appealing as it would allow the project to expand, which would then allow more
farmers to take part in the project.
Soon after being approached by the European buyer, SN convened an open forum
in Bojokulu to discuss the possibility of applying for organic certification. Local
shrimp warehouse owners, pond owners, SMOs, and government officials were all
invited. More than 100 people attended the meeting, and the overwhelming majority
voiced enthusiasm for organic certification. While the Japanese co-op members
were not interested in certification, they did not object to it. From their perspective,
adding an additional layer of governance (i.e., certification) was not necessary, as
they viewed their current set of relationships with farmers as sufficient for ensuring
sustainable shrimp. With the support of the shrimp farming community in Bojokulu,
SN and a group of shrimp farmers applied for organic shrimp certification from a
well-established third-party certifier in Europe, Green Soil. In July 2002, the project
became certified organic and an organic shrimp division within the sustainable
shrimp project was established.
While the arrangement with the European buyer was terminated within 2 years
of certification, SN and farmers maintained organic certification until 2008 when
they decided not to renew it.
4
While the Japanese co-op members did not require,
SN maintained certification because they considered it to be beneficial for the
project. First, SN viewed the conformity assessment mechanism of certification
as effective and efficient for ensuring compliance by farmers with the standards.
Additionally, they had invested considerable money, time, and energy in setting up
the required conformity assessment mechanism for certification, and maintaining
it was not prohibitively expensive. Second, certification provided the project with
a certain degree of prestige. The project was perceived as a model for sustainable
shrimp production in Indonesia, and farmers from other regions in Indonesia visited
Bojokulu. Once the European buyer ended its partnership with the project, shrimp
produced in the organic division of the project were sold to Japanese co-ops as
sustainable shrimp.
During the 6 years in which the shrimp project had organic certification, it
underwent several significant changes. The most significant entailed project gov-
ernance. Whereas initially there was a distinction in the governance between shrimp
produced in the sustainable project and those produced in its organic division,
gradually this distinction disappeared. Project managers viewed the auditing system
required by certification as effective for ensuring compliance with the standards,
and they planned to extend the audits and documentation requirements to the entire
sustainable shrimp project. Additionally, while co-op members initially claimed that
4
The reason was largely due to a campaign by an environmental organization that targeted Green
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