The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is expanding its French team with the aim to open an office in France in autumn 2009. 2,191,000 tons of seafood are sold annually in France and the French market for sustainable seafood is maturing as consumer expectations grow. Seafood sustainability has climbed high on the French agenda due to concerns about overfishing and market demand for sustainable seafood is growing.
Working in partnership with the seafood industry, the MSC is using its eco-labelling and fishery certification programme to help transform how the world’s seas and oceans are worked, and to influence the choices people make when buying seafood. By choosing MSC-labeled seafood, consumers can reward responsible management and ensure that the seafood industry contributes positively to the health of the oceans.
The MSC certification and ecolabelling programme is a third-party programme. Independent certifiers carry out assessments of fisheries and businesses against the MSC standards for sustainable fishing and seafood traceability. This ensures MSC certification is robust, credible and meets best practice guidelines for standard-setting organisations as set out by ISEAL and the FAO.
Hubert Carré, Director of the National Committee for Maritime Fisheries and Marine Aquaculture (CNPMEM ) encourages French fisheries to consider ecolabels – be it public or private initiatives. Daniel Lefèvre, President of Regional Committee for Maritime Fisheries and Marine Aquaculture (CRPMEM) of Lower Normandy: “We find the MSC a great tool to demonstrate that our fisheries are sustainably managed and to promote it to our consumers. It is also a way to bring fishermen and other stakeholders together to work on a common project in order to ensure the sustainability of our industry in the long run from an economic, social and environmental perspective”.
Fifty-seven MSC-labelled seafood products are currently distributed in France and interest continues to grow. An increasing number of French retailers are adding MSC-certified product lines with Casino and Carrefour leading the way. The Saint Etienne-based retailer, Casino, began to offer MSC-certified seafood in October 2007 and is now selling 18 MSC-labelled products. In response to the high demand of sustainable seafood, Carrefour is offering 11 MSC-labelled products.
Matthieu LAMBEAUX, Managing Director of Findus France said: “Consumers are worried about overfishing but many don’t know what to do about it. At Findus, we want to help them make the best environmental choice in seafood. That’s why we have been promoting the MSC eco-label to our customers from the very beginning. We are committed to widening our range of MSC-labelled products in 2009. I’m absolutely convinced that in 12 months’ time, the MSC ecolabel will become more and more popular and that an increasing number of companies will offer MSC labelled products.”
Following the success of its MSC products in its export markets, Chancerelle, the third largest French canned food processing company, is just about to launch its first MSC-labelled products as part of its Connétable range in France.
Nicolas Guichoux, Regional Director – Europe said: “I’m delighted to welcome Edouard Le Bart and Anyes Estay on board of the MSC. The MSC first started its expansion in Northern Europe and in German-speaking countries. France is now a priority for the MSC. Our expanded team will enable us to better service a growing interest from all stakeholders and raise awareness of the MSC ecolabel with the French pubic.” Edouard and Anyes will work jointly to further boost interest in the MSC programme in France.
The MSC’s French team can be contacted at:
Marine Stewardship Council
3rd floor, Mountbarrow House
6-20 Elizabeth Street
London SW1W 9RB
UK
Edouard Le Bart
Commercial Manager – France
edouard.lebart@msc.org
+44 20 7811 3332
Anyes Estay
Communications Officer
anyes.estay@msc.org
+44 20 7811 3314
