The Japan Fisheries Association (JFA) is planning to establish a Japanese certification system for fishery products, the "Marine Ecolabel Japan (MEL Japan)," within 2007. Certification will begin in 2008. The JFA is the umbrella organization for more than 400 organizations and companies in Japan's fishery industry.

Recently, organizations that certify marine products aiming to conserve the marine environment and resources have become active in the U.S. and Europe. In Japan, some fishery organizations are in the process of acquiring foreign ecolabel certifications, and some fishery companies have already acquired Chain of Custody (CoC) certification for their processing and distribution activities. With growing consumer awareness of ecolabeling, more retailers, including major distributors have increasingly favored ecolabeled products.

In response to the growing demand in Japan for ecolabeled products, the JFA has been working on introducing a Japanese marine ecolabel system to comply with the management guidelines on responsible fisheries, including processing and distribution, as established by the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) in 2005.

http://www.suisankai.or.jp/index_e.html
http://www.suisankai.or.jp/topics_e/isaribi/isaribi_56.pdf
- Kyoto Fishermen Seeking Eco-Labels for Flounders, Snow Crabs (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/1374-e
- First MSC-Labeled Seafood Appears on Japanese Market (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/1480-e
- Aeon Introduces MSC-Labeled Seafood at 660 Stores (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/1643-e

Posted: 2008/01/04 07:18:11 AM
Japanese version

TAG Ecosystem , Food/Water , Non-manufacturing industry , System/Law