📢 📢 ASC has announced several important updates that will impact organizations currently certified or planning to pursue ASC Farm and ASC Feed certification. Businesses should take note of these changes to proactively prepare their transition plans and ensure compliance with the latest requirements.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
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✅ Extended Transition Timeline for the ASC Farm Standard
ASC has postponed the mandatory implementation date of the ASC Farm Standard from 1st May 2027 to 1st May 2028, providing organizations with additional time to prepare for the transition.
Farms applying for their first audit from 1st May 2028 onwards will be assessed against the new standard.
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✅ Release of ASC Farm Standard V1.0.1A
Version V1.0.1A became effective on 1st July 2026.
ASC has confirmed that there are no changes to the standard's requirements. However, certain indicators and annexes have been marked as "not in use" pending updates in Version 1.1, which is expected to be released by the end of 2026.
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✅ Clarification on Data Submission Requirements via the MyASC Portal
The Data Submission Procedure V1.0 now applies to organizations certified under both the ASC Farm Standard and ASC Feed Standard through the MyASC portal.
Importantly, this requirement now covers all species and production systems, rather than being limited to the shrimp sector as previously applied.
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✅ Reminder for Farms Under ASC Farm Multi-site Assessments
For Units of Certification (UoCs) operating under the ASC Farm Multi-site certification model, auditors must directly witness harvesting activities at at least one site following the same harvesting process during each audit, in accordance with Farm CAR v2.3.1, Requirement 8.5(c).
Businesses should proactively provide or schedule harvesting activities during the audit period to ensure compliance with this requirement.