On November 29, 2006, Aeon Co., a major Japanese supermarket operator, launched the sale of seafood products with the "marine eco-label," a certification by Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), in 660 directly managed Jusco, MaxValue and other stores.

The MSC is an international non-profit organization that promotes sustainable fisheries instead of those one depleting the marine environment by certifying well-managed fisheries in resource use and marine conservation, and granting the MSC Eco-label to seafood products using ingredients obtained by certified fishing. The organization accredits certification bodies around the world that can carry out on-site fishery assessment against the MSC Standards of sustainable fishing.

Aeon started to deal with 10 products, including Alaskan salted salmon fillets, marine soy sauce with salmon roe, salted cod, cod roe and pollock roe. Moreover, the company was the nation's first retailer to receive the MSC Chain of Custody (CoC) certification on November 20, 2006. The MSC CoC is designed to separate MSC-labeled fish from other catch, ensuring the processing and supply of MSC-labeled fish to consumers.

By receiving the CoC certification, Aeon aims at a better selection with more sustainable seafoods to meet customers' needs, not only by selling MSC eco-labeled products but also by utilizing its own seafood processing capabilities.

http://www.aeon.info/en/aboutaeon/
http://www.msc.org/html/ni_250.htm
- First MSC-Labeled Seafood Appears on Japanese Market (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/1480-e

Posted: 2007/02/26 02:25:05 PM
Japanese version

TAG Food/Water , Non-manufacturing industry