Seafoodmatter (Crew welfare and labor conditions assessments for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Processing)

Seafoodmatter (Crew welfare and labor conditions assessments for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Processing)

It was founded in 2014 in the Netherlands. Seafoodmatter is an independent international advisory company, specialized in integrated quality management (e.g. ISO 22000, HACCP, BRC, SA8000, BSCI, MSC CoC, ASC farms, etc), tracking & tracing, sustainability, human rights in seafood supply chain management. It has more than 20 years experience now in the Seafood supply chain; Seafoodmatter has been advising large retail companies, tuna fleet, seafood processing suppliers, NGOs and government in application and improvement of responsible sourcing & sustainable matters creating a change that will drive the global seafood supply value chain. It has carried out more than 200 combined assessments and audits of traceability, chain of custody, labour risk assessment, crew welfare in the seafood supply chain in more than 60 countries. It helps companies to set up management system to comply with international market requirements and also with local legislations looking at human rights and working conditions. Guidance like ILOC188, and standard like SA8000 are the base of the assessments.

International Union of Food and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF)

The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) is an international federation of trade unions representing workers employed, among other sectors, in aquaculture, fish and seafood growing and processing. The IUF is composed of 421 affiliated trade unions in 128 countries representing over 10 million workers. It is based in Geneva, Switzerland. From its founding in 1920, international labour solidarity has been the IUFå«s guiding principle. This principle is implemented through: building solidarity at every stage of the food chain, international organizing within transnational companies (TNCs) global action to defend human, democratic, and trade union rights.

SGS-4th

SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 97,000 employees, SGS operates a network of more than 2,600 offices and laboratories around the world. As the leader in providing specialized business solutions that improve safety, quality and sustainability, SGS helps customers navigate an increasingly regulated world. SGS’s independent services add significant value to our customers’ operations and ensure business productivity whilst managing risk. Specific to the field of social accountability, SGS helps customers implement a Code of Conduct, and develop supply chains characterized by transparency and a long-term, systematic approach. This approach includes risk assessments, ongoing compliance assessments, data management and training to ensure that your business partners abide by your company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility. Around the world, SGS is improving trust between seafood trading partners. Whether in multi-stakeholder initiatives, or for specific clients and governments, SGS uses the combined resources of its safety, quality and sustainability/responsible business professionals. SGS’s follow-up assignments help close out the violations, and often through training, provide stakeholders with the tools and understanding to meet global and local compliance expectations. Through its Transparency One solution, SGS is helping brands map supply chains, and provide supply chain transparency and traceability. Additional work flows may add blockchain technology to secure the data. In the coming year, we expect to add mobile technology platforms and IoT to deliver information more efficiently and effectively thereby reducing risk completely.

Ulula

Ulula’s worker voice platform connects businesses to the workers they affect to create a more transparent, accountable and productive supply chains. By leveraging diverse and accessible information communication technology (ICT) to connect businesses with their stakeholders in real-time, companies gather information in real-time directly from stakeholders and enhance social dialogue between the stakeholders.

Workers can interact with the system through voice calls, text message, custom apps, WhatsApp, as well as the web to adapt to local context and needs. The Ulula platform works anywhere in the world, across languages and scripts to ensure stakeholders can easily participate.

Workers submit information anonymously and data is analyzed to provide companies a comprehensive living report on conditions inside factory walls. Not only does this aim to mitigate risk but also ensures complete transparency across the supply chain anywhere in the world to better manage working conditions.

The integrated platform for data collection and content management enables:
– Automated surveys to continuously monitor working conditions and community perception. Source questions from Ulula’s question bank or create custom questions to meet institutional and certification standards;
– Send mass broadcasts for continued engagement of target population;
– Set-up grievance management systems to manage stakeholder feedback and reconcile issues

Using Ulula’s tool, clients and partners can continuously monitor labour conditions, enabling them to address issues proactively and invest in remediation programs. Suppliers benefit from a more engaged workforce, reducing turnover, thereby increasing productivity and demonstrating compliance. Workers are continuously engaged and have the ability to contribute insights and anonymously to raise grievances across the entire supply chain.

SGS

SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 97,000 employees, SGS operates a network of more than 2,600 offices and laboratories around the world. As the leader in providing specialized business solutions that improve safety, quality and sustainability, SGS helps customers navigate an increasingly regulated world. SGS’s independent services add significant value to our customers’ operations and ensure business productivity whilst managing risk. Specific to the field of social accountability, SGS helps customers implement a Code of Conduct, and develop supply chains characterized by transparency and a long-term, systematic approach. This approach includes risk assessments, ongoing compliance assessments, data management and training to ensure that your business partners abide by your company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility. Around the world, SGS is improving trust between seafood trading partners. Whether in multi-stakeholder initiatives, or for specific clients and governments, SGS uses the combined resources of its safety, quality and sustainability/responsible business professionals. SGS’s follow-up assignments help close out the violations, and often through training, provide stakeholders with the tools and understanding to meet global and local compliance expectations. Through its Transparency One solution, SGS is helping brands map supply chains, and provide supply chain transparency and traceability. Additional work flows may add blockchain technology to secure the data. In the coming year, we expect to add mobile technology platforms and IoT to deliver information more efficiently and effectively thereby reducing risk.

Seafood Slavery Risk Tool

The Seafood Slavery Risk Tool (SSRT) was designed to Inform businesses about the risks of forced labor, human trafficking, and hazardous child labor in fisheries. The Risk Tool‰Ûªs methodology is being revised to identify the risks of forced labor, human trafficking, and hazardous child labor in seafood systems, including the fishing, farming and processing sectors.

Sustainable Fisheries Partnership

Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) is a business-focused NGO working to create information tools and methodology to allow companies to directly engage with seafood suppliers. SFP operates through two main principles: information and improvement. SFP has created a database called FishSource of fisheries and aquaculture areas which contains assessments of sustainability and improvement needs. SFP helps seafood companies engage with fisheries by creating FIPs and AIPs to work together with multi-stakeholder groups for the creation and implementation of improvement plans. SFP is also collaborating with Seafish and Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program to create a risk assessment tool for social responsibility in fisheries.

Human Rights at Sea International

Human Rights at Sea International Limited (HRASi) is a registered trading subsidiary of the independent maritime charity Human Rights at Sea. It provides discreet consulting services to the global community on maritime human rights issues and 20% of all of our fees go to support our parent charity. HRASi services include Social Licence to Operate design, implementation and maintenance services.

The Pew Charitable Trusts

The Pew Charitable Trusts‰Ûª ending illegal fishing project is working to ensure a sustainable future for our oceans by combatting illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. As unscrupulous operators seek to maximize profits by exploiting fish stocks or loopholes in management they frequently pay little attention to the safety and working conditions for vessel crews. Fortunately, the seafood industry can implement tools that help tackle these issues together. Pew is bringing together stakeholders from governments, authorities, and the seafood industry, to change behaviors and significantly reduce IUU fishing by improving the oversight and knowledge of fishing activities. An element of this includes entry into force of the International Maritime Organization‰Ûªs Cape Town Agreement (CTA), an international treaty which sets minimum safety standards and inspection criteria for fishing vessels. Harmonized implementation of the CTA, alongside the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations‰Ûª Agreement Port State Measures, which aims to prevent illegally caught fish from entering ports, and the International Labour Organization‰Ûªs Work in Fishing Convention, which establishes the base requirement for decent working and living conditions on board ships, will reap rewards. The seafood industry is in a unique position to help, it can advocate for governments to put such policies in place. By mandating that vessels can be uniquely identified and tracked, catch subject to port controls and transshipment activity monitored, tracking and tracing the people and product in supply chains should be possible. By doing this opportunities for the exploitation of fisheries and fishers will be reduced.

Solidarity Center

The Solidarity Center is the largest U.S.-based international worker rights organization helping workers attain safe and healthy workplaces, family-supporting wages, dignity on the job and greater equity at work and in their community. Allied with the AFL-CIO and working with 400-plus labor unions, NGOs, human rights defenders and community groups, the Solidarity Center assists workers across the globe as, together, they fight discrimination, exploitation and the systems that entrench poverty. It supports programs‰ÛÓe.g., trainings, education campaigns, legal aid, research and transparency initiative‰ÛÓthat help workers understand and exercise their rights, improve their working and living conditions, and build independent unions, including in the fishing and seafood sectors. The Solidarity Center has issued several publications on the fish and seafood sector, including: The Plight of Shrimp-Processing Workers of Southwestern Bangladesh (2012), Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Human Trafficking and Exploitation of Migrant Fishing Boat Workers in Thailand (2009), and The True Cost of Shrimp (2008).

Conservation International

For over 30 years, CI has been protecting nature for the benefit of global humanity. We do this through science, policy and partnerships with countries, communities and companies. Our oceans program is committed to sustainable production, ensuring that seafood is environmentally sustainable and socially responsible. We have invested significant effort in functioning as a catalyst and convener on social responsibility, driving alignment among organizations that work with businesses, governments, and civil society groups involved in the seafood sector on a shared definition and collective action plan for progress: and developing a strong and diverse community of practice, comprised of environmental and social nonprofit organizations, academic researchers, consultants, and other key experts.

Human Rights at Sea

Human Rights at Sea‰Ûª mission is to explicitly raise awareness, implementation and accountability of human rights provisions throughout the maritime environment, especially where they are currently absent, ignored or being abused. We promote human rights (as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent United Nations conventions and declarations) for seafarers, fishermen and others involved in working at sea throughout the world by all or any of the following means: 1. Increasing global awareness of the explicit requirement for protection of, respect for and provision of effective remedies for human rights abuses at sea through international advocacy, the publishing of case studies and where applicable, the provision of teaching materials. 2. Contributing to the international development of effective, enforceable and accountable remedies for human rights abuses at sea. 3. Investigating and monitoring abuses of Human Rights at Sea. 4. Developing the 2011 UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights in the maritime environment.5. Commenting on and supporting proposed national and international human rights legislation, policies and best practice, where applicable. Human Rights at Sea has been a member of the UN Global Compact since 2014.

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