THAI UNION ENTERS PARTNERSHIP WITH SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES PARTNERSHIP

Thai Union enters partnership with Sustainable Fisheries Partnership

Thai Union Group has entered a partnership with Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) to further improve transparency in the Company’s supply chains and consider wider impacts on biodiversity.

The agreement with SFP – which is dedicated to delivering healthy marine and aquatic ecosystems and a secure seafood supply through the creation of a responsible seafood economy – will allow ongoing audits of Thai Union’s supply chains. Thai Union will also remain engaged at SFP roundtables critical to the Company’s supply chains.

SFP’s existing partners actively drive change in fisheries and aquaculture by using their leverage to mobilize improvements within their existing supply chains. Together, SFP and Thai Union – a leading example of a seafood company actively and ambitiously driving change – could amplify and scale efforts.

The partnership with SFP will also allow Thai Union to continue and deepen its participation in the Ocean Disclosure Project (ODP), with supply chain and sustainability information to be made publicly available through the ODP platform.

“Thai Union is constantly exploring new opportunities to strengthen transparency across its entire operations, and our partnership with SFP is further evidence of that unwavering commitment,” said Adam Brennan, Group Director, Sustainability at Thai Union. “A key element of this new partnership will be Thai Union’s ability to use SFP’s Seafood Metrics system, which helps businesses evaluate the sustainability of their seafood, understand the effectiveness of existing improvement efforts, and identify the most important priorities for improvements.”

“At SFP, we are working toward a world where the oceans are healthy, all seafood is produced sustainability, and everyone has access to sustainable seafood. SFP’s mission is closely aligned with Thai Union’s ambitious SeaChange® program,” said Kathryn Novak, Global Markets Director, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership. “Our new global partnership will amplify and enhance the efforts of both organisations to achieve healthy oceans and sustainable seafood.”

SFP’s Seafood Metrics will allow Thai Union to continue to improve the monitoring, transparency and traceability of its supply chains, as well as assess and monitor its global wild and farmed supply chains used in its businesses in the EU, U.S. and Asia. Seafood Metrics aggregates and tracks information on governance quality, target stock health, human rights risks, and environmental impacts in a company’s source fisheries. Additional sustainability indicators, such as certifications, Human Rights Risk Assessment, NGO ratings and traceability will be included in the monitoring.

Other actions under the partnership will include a bycatch audit of Thai Union’s tuna supply chain. Bycatch, the unintended catch of non-target species, is one of the most significant issues affecting the biological sustainability of marine fisheries. By assessing the impact of the supply chains, the Company can then take further action.

SFP is undertaking a new industry-led, international effort to protect Endangered, Threatened and Protected (ETP) species. This first-ever initiative will engage and mobilize the seafood industry, and the entire supply chain to reduce the worldwide bycatch of ETP species including sharks, seabirds, marine mammals, and sea turtles. This aligns with one of the key initiatives of SeaChange® and a new strategy from Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS), to protect threatened and vulnerable species.

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