The certification audit, which will be done by Seattle-based Surefish, is scheduled for early March, David Mantilla, quality control coordinator for Beaver Street, told IntraFish on Wednesday.

“Basically, they are just going to come through the plant and go through our procedures and see that we are complying with all the BAP requirements, and that we just maintain good traceability on all the products that we get from all of our ACC- [certified] plants that we deal with overseas,” said Mantilla.

The certification is an important step in the traceability of products under the BAP certification program, Mantilla said. Beaver Street brings in shrimp, tilapia and other products from BAP-certified plants around the world.

The repackaging certification allows Beaver Street to extend the BAP seal to the branded and private-label products it repacks at its Jacksonville plants.

“We are supporting the ACC, and by doing this we are helping processors in other countries to take advantage of the ACC auditing and also to inform the consumer in the United States how important this is,” said Mantilla. “We’ll know from which plant, from which pond, from everywhere, the whole history of the product."

Beaver Street has been at the forefront of the sustainable seafood movement. In addition to embracing the BAP program, the company is marketing Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified products.

The ACC is a nongovernmental body established to certify social, environmental and food safety standards at aquaculture facilities throughout the world. It applies the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s (GAA) BAP standards in a certification system that combines site inspections and effluent sampling with sanitary controls, therapeutic controls and traceability.