Latest BAP Auditor Training Course Draws Record 43 Participants
A record-high 43 auditors attended the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) auditor training course in Bangkok, Thailand, from June 19 to 25, the Global Aquaculture Alliance has announced.
The BAP program integrity team regularly holds auditor training courses around the globe for new auditor candidates and returning auditors requiring refresher training, as well as industry observers interesting in learning more about the about the BAP certification standards and auditing process.
The latest course drew a record 43 auditors and 10 industry observers. Attendees came predominantly from Asia — Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Some attendees came from the United States.
One of the primary functions of the BAP program integrity team is the training and accreditation of qualified individuals as BAP auditors. Course attendees must complete nightly homework assignments and pass an end-of-course exam to qualify to audit against the BAP certification standards.
Last month’s course covered all of the BAP seafood processing plant standards (Issue 4, Revision 2, December 2015); BAP finfish and crustacean farm standards (including land-based aquaculture systems: ponds, fresh/brackish water cage farms and marine cage farms); BAP salmon farm standards; BAP finfish, crustacean and mollusk hatchery and nursery standards; BAP feed mill standards; and the new BAP mollusk farm standards.
And, for the first time, the course offered attendees the opportunity to receive a Seafood HACCP Course Training Certificate authorized by the Seafood HACCP Alliance.
Course instructors were Ken Corpron, BAP program integrity specialist; seafood specialist Guy Ewing; Dr. Steve Otwell of the Seafood HACCP Alliance; and Jeff Peterson, BAP training coordinator. Corpron provided an update on the implementation of the recently modified BAP Finfish and Crustacean Hatchery and Nursery Standards, while Peterson addressed the recently released BAP Mollusk Farm Standards. Additionally, Otwell provided an update on the requirements of the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act.
About BAP
A division of the Global Aquaculture Alliance, Best Aquaculture Practices is an international certification program based on achievable, science-based and continuously improved global performance standards for the entire aquaculture supply chain — farms, hatcheries, processing plants and feed mills — that assure healthful foods produced through environmentally and socially responsible means.
