Principles and the Pathway. The Comprehensive Traceability Principles and Pathway represent the best practices that governments in seafood producing countries should consider when embarking on designing, implementing, or improving their comprehensive electronic traceability programs. A comprehensive eCDT effort should capture and utilize ecological, economic, and social data related to seafood products to support and strengthen effective fisheries management, identify and prevent IUU and mislabeled products from entering markets, and support legal and equitable human welfare conditions for seafood laborers. XXXX identified the need for shared guidance that identifies the minimum level of best practice for the design and implementation of seafood eCDT programs within producer regions that address economic, social, and ecological goals, including fisheries management. The Comprehensive eCDT Principles Consultative Committee—which was formed of key experts on this topic as well as parties that are interested in applying these Principles to their own work in eCDT—and SALT’s supporting organizations identified a need for Principles to specifically support seafood producing country governments’ eCDT adoption and institutionalization. The Principles are applicable to government representatives working to implement eCDT at a variety of scales (e.g. artisanal and/or industrial) and apply whether they are seeking to launch a large national eCDT program or a small regional pilot. The Principles were created as core themes to keep in mind throughout the process of designing, implementing, or improving a traceability program. They all hold equal importance and should all be considered throughout the entire process of creating or improving a traceability program. The Principles are accompanied by the Pathway to the Principles, which has three phases for applying the Principles – initiate, design, and implement. The Pathway phases may be applied differently depending on how far along a government is in implementing an eCDT program. Seafood producing country governments are the primary target for the Principles, as they have the authority and responsibility to implement policies for reducing risks to workers and for the ecological and economic management of their fisheries. While some nations have more developed institutional capacities and greater access to resources than others, the ability to regulate makes governments capable of institutionalizing traceability programs that are lasting and compr...
