The Expert Workshop on “Guidelines for Aquaculture Certification” was held in Beijing, P.R. China from 6 to 8 May 2008, hosted by the Government of China. The workshop was jointly organised and conducted by FAO, NACA, the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Science and the Department for Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People’s Republic of China. The workshop is the fifth in a series of workshops and consultations to prepare the international guidelines for aquaculture certification. This workshop had a strong emphasis on aquaculture products from China, and explored opportunities and challenges for implementing the certification guidelines in China towards improving overall aquatic production and trade of aquaculture products nationally, regionally, and globally. The Expert Workshop was attended by 65 participants, including aquaculture experts and stakeholders from government agencies, private business, and agencies involved in certification schemes and food safety from China, as well as international experts from FAO, NACA and SEAFDEC.

The workshop considered that international guidelines for aquaculture certification are of significant relevance to the current development of aquaculture and aquaculture certification schemes in China, providing a useful basis for development of standards and mechanisms for certification of aquaculture products in China. The participants provided a number of specific recommendations to the draft version of the international guidelines and implementation issues and mechanisms as detailed in this report.