Standards Organisation

The FRDC is approved by the Accreditation board for Standards Development Organisations as a Standards Development Organisation AS/NZS ISO 9001:2015 organisation for quality and undertakes internal and external audits annually with a recertification audit of its quality system each three years.

The FRDC carried out both an internal and an external three-year re-accreditation audit in October 2019. The Standards Development and Accreditation Committee approved the reaccreditation of the FRDC at their meeting on 6 February 2020.

The FRDC has continued to work with industry partners throughout the year looking at a number of potential options to create future fisheries-related standards. Over the coming year there will be more work to formalise and finalise groundwork already completed by a number of research projects. Standards being developed include responsible fishing, science, and fisheries management standards. Further information is available at www.seafoodstandards.com.au.

Australian Fish Names Standard

The Fish Names Committee met at the Melbourne Museum on 9 October 2019 and by videoconference on 22 April 2020.

Having a standard in place increases consumer confidence in the seafood they buy because no matter where they buy their seafood in Australia, they know it will be called by the same name. Standard names also allows for more efficient and effective management of food safety and reduces the potential for misleading and deceptive conduct as more accurate trade descriptors can be used. The Australian Fish Names Standard is a searchable online database — visit www.fishnames.com.au.

Development of Australian Standard for Aquatic Plant Names

Work on developing the first Australian Standard for Aquatic Plant Names (AS 5301) continued throughout the year. Plants from marine and freshwater environments are covered by this standard, irrespective of the country of origin. The final draft, which included the list of standard names to be used in Australia for edible and commercial aquatic plants was completed and put out for the required public consultation period.

AS 5301 the Australian Standard for Aquatic Plant Names will be published in November 2020.