ECO-LABELING AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS: THE CASE OF MARINE STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL CERTIFICATION FOR INDONESIA'S SHRIMP POTENTIAL MARKET

Abstrak Artikel ini membahas analisis biaya dan manfaat dari Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) untuk ekspor udang putih (Litopenaeus vannamei) dan udang windu (Penaeus monodon) dari Indonesia. Penerapan MSC pada produk perikanan memang tidak wajib, tetapi dapat mempengaruhi kinerja eskpor Indonesia. Perhitungan analisa biaya dan manfaat untuk proyek MSC menggunakan beberapa pilihan yang dihitung ke dalam empat komponen analysis yang terpisah (Proyek, Privat, Efisiensi, dan kelompok penerima manfaat). Dengan menggunakan data tahun 2018 dan jangka waktu investasi selama 20 tahun, kajian ini membandingkan hasil investasi yang menerapkan standard MSC dengan hasil investasi yang tidak menerapkan standard MSC dengan mempertimbangkan hambatan dari biaya perdagangan internasional. Secara keselurahan, studi ini menunjukkan bahwa the Net Present Values (NPVs) and Internal Rate of Returns (IRRs) bersifat konsisten untuk semua pilihan analysis. Studi ini juga menyimpulkan bahwa berdasarkan hasil dari analisis pasar, Amerika Serikat adalah pasar yang menjanjikan bagi produk udang Indonesia yang berlabelkan MSC. Pemerintah Indonesia akan menikmati 13% kenaikan pendapatan dari pajak keuntungan bisnis tersebut, meskipun proyek ini tidak memberikan dampak perubahan kepada tenaga kerja tidak terampil. Oleh karena itu, studi ini merekomendasikan pemerintah Indonesia untuk mempromosikan program MSC untuk perikanan berkelanjutan, terutama bagi peningkatan kinerja eskpor udang Indonesia. Kata Kunci: Kebijakan Perdagangan, Perikanan Tangkap, Keberlanjutan, Cost-Benefit Analysis Abstract This paper discusses the cost and benefits analysis of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) for Indonesia's exports of white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) and tiger prawns (Penaeus monodon). The MSC adoption is voluntary, but it is likely to affect the performance of Indonesia's exports. We use several options applied separately in four components analysis in performing the social cost and benefit analysis (Project, Private, Efficiency, and Referral Group). Using the 2018 data and a 20-year investment period, this study compares the investment results applying the MSC standard with the results without investing in the MSC procedures concerning the trade cost barriers. Overall, the results reveal that the Net Present Values (NPVs) and Internal Rate of Returns (IRRs) are consistent for all options in all feasibility component analyses. It concludes that based on market analysis, the US market is the promising market as a primary export destination for Indonesian shrimp products with MSC label. The government will benefit by 13% from profit taxes, while this project does not affect unskilled labor benefits. Therefore, it recommends that the Indonesian government take more action to promote the MSC program for sustainable fisheries and boost shrimp export performance. Keywords: Trade Policy, Capture Fisheries, Sustainability, Cost-Benefit Analysis JEL Classification: F13, Q22, Q56, H43

Social and Economic Outcomes of Fisheries Certification: Characterizing Pathways of Change in Canned Fish Markets

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) eco-labeling program provides fisheries a pathway to demonstrate their sustainability by undergoing an environmental certification. Like other standard-setters, the MSC’s ‘theory of change’ presumes that markets use this information to select for sustainable products, providing an incentive for producers to improve their practices and become certified. However, the underlying mechanisms which actually work to link market behavior and participation in the program in different contexts have not been systematically identified. We draw on broad MSC field experience to identify processes that have supported the theory of change in individual fisheries. Then, we develop a broadly applicable rapid assessment protocol, relying on a semi-structured interviews of key informants, to gather systematic evidence for key dynamics within the theory of change: the effects of going through MSC certification on market processes, partnerships in the fishery, and governance. In a pilot test of the protocol, we identify important common and idiosyncratic processes in three canned product fisheries: United States west coast albacore tuna, Brittany sardines, and Portuguese sardines. We find that the harvesters and buyers/processors in these fisheries sought certification primarily to expand or maintain their market share, and that certification was synergistic with stakeholder cooperation. The cases demonstrate how our rapid assessment interviews allow program participants to relate their experience in their own words yet facilitate systematic comparison to identify common mechanisms within the theory of change. We propose its wider application to systematically advance our understanding of social and economic processes that drive of eco-label interventions in different geographies and supply chains around the world.

Does the Marine Stewardship Council's Eco-labelling Scheme Require Sustainable Fisheries Management?: a Study of the Marine Stewardship Council's Objections Procedure

<p>The Marine Stewardship Council eco-labelling scheme was formed in order to provide a means of promoting sustainable fisheries that moved away from conventional top-down management. In order to remain robust and transparent, MSC allows stakeholders to object to a certification through an objections process outlined by MSC. Over the past 15 years, this objections process has come under increasing scrutiny. The MSC OP has been accused of Ambiguous wording, principal agent issues and an unequal judicial process by some stakeholders and outside commentators. These accusations pose a real threat to the reputation of the MSC. If left un-addressed, MSC’s credibility amongst consumers and academics has the potential to be lost. This thesis seeks to investigate the legitimacy and robustness of the MSC OP. There is a focus on the way in which the MSC OP facilitates interactions between objection actors, influences actors, and how each actor is empowered by the MSC OP methodology.</p>

Does the Marine Stewardship Council's Eco-labelling Scheme Require Sustainable Fisheries Management?: a Study of the Marine Stewardship Council's Objections Procedure

<p>The Marine Stewardship Council eco-labelling scheme was formed in order to provide a means of promoting sustainable fisheries that moved away from conventional top-down management. In order to remain robust and transparent, MSC allows stakeholders to object to a certification through an objections process outlined by MSC. Over the past 15 years, this objections process has come under increasing scrutiny. The MSC OP has been accused of Ambiguous wording, principal agent issues and an unequal judicial process by some stakeholders and outside commentators. These accusations pose a real threat to the reputation of the MSC. If left un-addressed, MSC’s credibility amongst consumers and academics has the potential to be lost. This thesis seeks to investigate the legitimacy and robustness of the MSC OP. There is a focus on the way in which the MSC OP facilitates interactions between objection actors, influences actors, and how each actor is empowered by the MSC OP methodology.</p>

Using Stated Preference Valuation to Support Sustainable Marine Fishery Management

This study uses a random parameters logit (RPL) model to estimate the Taiwanese preference for northern shrimp (NS) products (NSP) with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label. The estimated results show that, ceteris paribus, the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) of Taiwanese consumers for NSP with the MSC label is up to New Taiwan dollar (NTD) 84.86 in comparison to products without the label. Moreover, the price of MSC-labeled NSP has a positive effect on the quantity demanded by Taiwanese consumers. They also prefer products in smaller packages and with shorter certification periods. The positive effect can be explained by the Veblen effect or the fact that sometimes prices are perceived as signals of product quality. However, the effects of preference for smaller packages and shorter certification periods are minimal compared with the effects of preference for MSC-labeled products. When consumers are unfamiliar with products or labels, a high price is a viable marketing strategy. However, the advantage cannot sustain the promotion of products and labels.

Certification of European perch from the Irikla Reservoir (basin of the Ural River) according to the standards of the Marine Stewardship Council

Certification according to the standards of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is highly demanded in the world market of seafood products. In Russia, a number of fisheries already have MSC certificates, but still there is a significant potential for certification of other fisheries. This requires analysis of the experience of companies that have successfully obtained the certification. Special attention should be paid to small-scale fisheries, whose financial opportunities to participate in certification programs, unlike large fisheries, are seriously limited. In the present work, process of ecological certification of fishery is considered on an example of the gillnet fishery of European perch Perca fluviatilis in the Irikla Reservoir, located in the middle course of the river Ural in the Orenburg Province. The catch volume of perch is 200–250 metric tons during the recent years. Fishing companies that fish in this reservoir have been working on MSC certification for over ten years. Process of certification has shown that the fishery meets the necessary standards, but even after the certification completed in 2016, there is a need for certain activities to support certification. These are in-depth analysis of the recreational fisheries, development of research plans in cooperation with scientific fishery institutes, specifically aimed at informing the certification process, independent analysis of the fisheries management system, detailed study of various bycatch species. It can be concluded that positive experience of this small-scale fishery with ecological certification can be important in improving fisheries management not only in Russia but also worldwide.