The Iceland Responsible Fisheries Foundation has received full accreditation for their Icelandic Responsible Fisheries Management (IRFM) Specification to the internationally recognised ISO/IEC Guide 65 Standard for certification of product and process schemes.
Fisheries for golden redfish and cod have already been certified to this newly accredited IRFM Specification (standard) and all new fisheries certifications, as well as annual surveillance and re-certifications, will be to the IRFM Specification.
The accreditation assessment was carried out by an International Accreditation Forum (IAF) member, the Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB) and accreditation was awarded against ISO Guide 65 (known as EN 45011 in Europe). The award of accreditation provides clarification at the highest level of the independence, transparency and credibility of IRFM certification.
Iceland Responsible Fisheries Foundation (IRFF), the standard owner, formally applied for accreditation of the IRFM Standard. It is the Technical Committee of the IRFF that is responsible for writing, issuing and reviewing the two IRFM standards; for Responsible Fisheries Management and for Chain of Custody.
According to Dr. Kristjan Thorarinsson, chair of the IRFF Technical Committee, this is an important achievement of a major goal for the IRFM programme.
“This achievement puts us in a strong position to maintain and develop our programme into the future, ensuring that it remains credible and continues to meet the needs of our clients,” she said.
The Iceland Responsible Fisheries programme (IRF) arose out of discussions with all members of the seafood supply chain in Iceland and was officially launched in October 2008.
This certification model allows Icelandic fisheries to meet the FAO criteria for credible certification. The main purpose of the programme is to preserve the fisheries management principles adopted by the international community, to document well managed Icelandic fisheries to the highest level of assurance, to promote community consensus behind good discipline in fisheries management and to offer its customers choice in certification.
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