What BAP and ASC Certification Actually Require of Seafood Exporters
Two certification names come up constantly for shrimp, pangasius, and other farmed seafood exporters across Thailand, Vietnam, and India: BAP and ASC. Buyer demand for both has grown steadily, part of a broader shift toward traceability in the region's seafood trade that accelerated after the EU issued Thailand a formal warning over illegal fishing in April 2015, lifted only in January 2019 once reforms were in place. BAP and ASC aren't interchangeable, and they aren't structured the same way. This article breaks down what each one actually requires, so you know which applies to your operation and what buyers mean when they ask for one by name.
What BAP certification actually requires
Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) is run by the Global Seafood Alliance and is built around a distinctive structure: rather than certifying a farm alone, it certifies each stage of the production chain separately, hatchery, farm, feed mill, and processing plant, each against its own standard.
The four pillars
Every BAP standard is assessed against the same four areas:
Environmental Responsibility (habitat conservation, water quality, and effluent management)
Social Accountability (labour laws, human rights, and worker safety)
Food Safety (controls against banned antibiotics and unapproved chemicals)
Animal Health and Welfare (husbandry practices and disease control).
The star system
BAP certification is communicated to buyers through a star rating that shows how much of the production chain is certified, not the quality of a single facility. One star means only the processing plant is BAP certified. Two stars means the processing plant and the farm are both certified. Three stars adds either the hatchery or the feed mill (not necessarily both) to the processing plant and farm. Four stars, the maximum, means every facility across the entire chain, processing plant, farm, hatchery, and feed mill, has been independently certified. A four-star rating is what BAP describes as its highest achievable designation.
The process
A facility typically starts with a free self-assessment against the relevant standard, then submits an application and moves into the audit itself, which reviews documentation, interviews staff, and inspects the site. Any nonconformities identified are presented to the facility, which must submit and have corrective actions approved before certification is granted, meaning certification isn't in hand until every variance is resolved. From initial application to certification, the process typically takes four to six months. Once certified, each facility undergoes an annual third-party audit to keep its certification active.
What ASC certification actually requires
The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) takes a different structural approach. Farm-level certification and the certification needed further down the supply chain are two separate standards, not one combined scheme.
The Farm Standard
The current ASC Farm Standard, version 1.0.1, took effect on 1 August 2025 and consolidates what used to be separate, species-specific ASC standards into one unified framework covering more than 40 species across ponds, cages, raceways, and recirculating systems, in freshwater, brackish, and marine environments. It's organised around four principles: legal compliance and business management, environmental stewardship, human rights, and animal health and welfare. Existing certificate holders have until 1 May 2028 before every audit must be conducted against this unified standard, though farms can move to it voluntarily before that date.
The Chain of Custody standard
The Farm Standard only certifies the farm itself. Any company handling ASC-certified seafood after it leaves the farm, processors, traders, distributors, or retailers, needs separate Chain of Custody certification to legally use the ASC label on what they sell. Chain of Custody verifies that certified product stays traceable and isn't mixed with uncertified material as it moves through the supply chain, which is what ultimately lets an ASC label reach a retail package.
The process
ASC audits are carried out by accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs), not by ASC directly. A site visit is announced at least 30 working days in advance, and the process from announcement to final audit report typically takes around four months. If nonconformities are found, the operation has three months to address them. Before a certificate is finalised, the draft audit report is opened for public stakeholder comment for 15 working days. Once certified, a facility's certificate is valid for up to three years, but only if it passes annual surveillance audits in between; missing a surveillance audit can put the certificate at risk before the three years are up.
The structural difference that actually matters
BAP folds an entire supply chain into a single certification program with a star rating that reflects how many stages are covered. ASC keeps farm-level certification and downstream chain-of-custody certification as two separate standards entirely. This changes what a specific request from a buyer actually means: a buyer asking for "4-star BAP" is asking about how much of your production chain is certified under one program, while a buyer asking for "ASC" on a farm is asking about the Farm Standard specifically, and a buyer asking for the ASC label on a finished product is really asking whether every link between that farm and their shelf, including yours, holds Chain of Custody certification.
Can an operation hold both?
There's nothing that prevents a facility from holding both BAP and ASC certification, and exporters serving multiple markets or buyers often end up doing exactly that, since different retailers and regions tend to favour one label over the other. The two audits assess overlapping but not identical requirements, so holding both generally means two separate certification processes and two separate annual audit obligations rather than one satisfying the other.
Working out which certification your buyer actually wants
Between BAP's chain-wide star system and ASC's split farm and chain-of-custody standards, it's easy to prepare for the wrong scope of audit if the request isn't clarified upfront. If you'd like help working out exactly what a specific buyer requirement means for your operation, get in touch.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between BAP and ASC certification?
BAP certifies each stage of the production chain, hatchery, farm, feed mill, and processing plant, under one program with a star rating showing how many stages are covered. ASC certifies the farm itself under its Farm Standard, with a separate Chain of Custody standard required for anyone handling the product further down the supply chain.
What does a 4-star BAP rating mean?
It means every facility across the entire production chain, processing plant, farm, hatchery, and feed mill, has independently passed BAP certification. It's the highest rating BAP awards; lower star counts mean fewer stages of the chain are certified.
Do I need both BAP and ASC certification?
Not necessarily, but many exporters serving multiple buyers or markets hold both, since different retailers and regions tend to ask for one specifically. Holding both means passing two separate certification processes, since neither satisfies the other's requirements.
How long does BAP or ASC certification take to obtain?
BAP certification typically takes four to six months from application to certificate, followed by annual third-party audits to maintain it. ASC's initial audit process takes roughly four months from the announced site visit to the final report, and the resulting certificate is valid for up to three years, subject to annual surveillance audits.