Exalmar, a Peruvian fishmeal and fish oil producer, is the first company to achieve the certification for its further processing and trading activities under the MarinTrust Chain of Custody Standard (CoC), version 2. This follows various on-site audits by an independent third-party certification body. The Version 2 of the standard was launched in November 2020.

“We are eager to meet the demands of international markets. Our commitment is from the capture of the raw material from responsible sources, processing and certified storage, for its safe and traceable commercialization. This means assuring our customers the full traceability of all our fishmeal and fish oil,” stated Judith Vivar, commercial manager at Exalmar.

Audits against the standard enable certified marine ingredient businesses to demonstrate full traceability of compliant products, from approved raw material sourced from responsibly managed fisheries to the manufacture, further processing, and trading of safe and pure products. Certification is achieved through a rigorous audit against the MarinTrust CoC Standard. Currently, all audits of the new version have to be conducted onsite.

MarinTrust CoC certified sites are able to use the “MarinTrust Certified” mark, which signifies compliance and commitment to the MarinTrust CoC Standard. If the ownership of a CoC-certified product is passed to a trader to sell onto an approved buyer, that trader must also gain CoC certification in order to maintain product integrity and an unbroken supply chain.

The new version of the MarinTrust Chain of Custody includes new features such as:

• New clauses that include supplier approval and monitoring systems including traders, and considering agents/brokers.
• Revised clauses including mass balance, labeling and segregation in all different activities, such as initial storage, further processing (packaging, re-packaging, mixing), final dispatch and delivery.
• Introduction of sub-contractor criteria with evaluation and documented control of sub-contractors.
• Strengthened clauses on the use of the MarinTrust claim.

Francisco Aldon, CEO of MarinTrust, said, “we are delighted that Exalmar has achieved certification for its trading operations under our new CoC standard. This is a demanding and selective process which implies full segregation and traceability of any certified marine ingredient from start to finish of the supply chain.”