Chinese companies currently make up only 10 percent of those certified under the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s (GAA) Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) standards, but there is increasing interest in the market and growing demand from Chinese buyers for certified products, an executive with GAA’s China office told IntraFish.

“Overall, there are export market driven applicants for BAP, domestic market driven applicants for BAP and industry voluntary applicants for BAP,” said GAA China Communication Coordinator Iris Xin Wang. “BAP standards are being prompted to grow.”

However, the ability of producers to meet the standards varies greatly.

“We find the traditional export-oriented species such as shrimp and tilapia take the BAP standard well, especially vertically integrated production groups,” Wang told IntraFish. “They are familiar with the requirements of their clients regarding food safety, environmental sustainability, social responsibility or animal welfare.”

Those producing for the Chinese domestic market are less consistently able to meet standards, but Wang has positive stories to share.

“BAP’s finfish and crustacean farm standard was used to audit a leading turbot producer in northern China, which took the standard well. This producer does not have a big processing facility because the majority of their products are not processed. The same kind of application of BAP standard goes for the popular hairy crab, abalone and rainbow trout.”

Wang also says BAP standards are being “enriched” by Chinese-market-specific species. For example, BAP is currently working with a leading sea cucumber producer in northern China to do a pilot audit project, from which content would be added to its BAP farm and hatchery standards.

Wang also observes that wild product processors and pre-processors for the Chinese market are curious and interested in BAP’s new Seafood Processing Plant standard in China. And BAP’s group certification meshes nicely with the Chinese government’s “Enterprises and Cooperatives” scheme and its drive to improve environmental standards of aquaculture production in lakes, resevoirs, coastal areas and wetlands.

The link between safety and sustainability

In terms of buyers, Wang says there is varied sustainability focus in different markets, and China is no exception.

In the EU market, animal welfare compliance is a new focus. In the foodservice sector, buyers tend to be concerned with lowering their carbon footprint and wanting to source locally, but in the Chinese and Japanese markets, among both buyers and consumers, food safety remains the top concern, says Wang.

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In aquaculture, sustainability requirements are seen as more integral to the food safety and overall quality of the product.

“That has resulted in some of the best performing aquaculture-focused processing plants and farms in the world,” said Wang.

“Chinese seafood producers and suppliers are also concerned with maintaining a sustainable business so they can continue to operate among fierce competition at home and abroad, rising labor cost and volatile global markets," Wang said.

“The shared goal for buyers and BAP is that we want to provide seafood with assurance to end-users. BAP’s value in assisting achieving that goal is being picked up by an increasingly global seafood buyers’ community. Their interest drives BAP demand and changes down the production chain.”