The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) on September 21 disclosed the content of a new-standard training session held in Can Tho on September 15 in partnership with the ASC (Aquaculture Stewardship Council). The targets were farms, companies, and aquafeed mills. What matters for Japanese buyers is that the scope of the audit does not stop inside the fence of the farming pond but goes back to the raw materials of the feed. Tallying the ASC's public database on September 25, 2026, Vietnam had 15 certified feed-mill sites, more than any other country.
Where the new standard the ASC presented at the Can Tho training changes
At this session, the ASC presented a forecast that toward 2030 seafood demand will grow about 17%, aquaculture output 27%, and about 60% of seafood will be aquaculture-derived. It explained that the audit's scope connects from feed raw materials through feed mills, farms, the supply chain, to the final product.
Twelve species-specific standards become one; the migration deadline is May 1, 2028
The new ASC Farm Standard bundles the 12 standards that had been divided by species into a single global common standard. According to the ASC's standards page, the migration's mandatory date has been extended to May 1, 2028, and all audits starting after that will be conducted under the new standard, with the old species-specific standards becoming invalid. The interim version V1.0.1A2 is current, and V1.1 is written as scheduled for release on November 1, 2026.
This deadline has moved once. As VASEP reported on July 18, the original mandatory date was May 1, 2027, and the ASC extended it by one year. ASC technical director Ally Dingwall explains it as a decision to support the migration. The Japanese version is already published, and the Vietnamese version shows "Coming soon."
Principle 3's social requirements are 115 items, divided into 13 points
Principle 3 of the new Farm Standard is composed of 115 items spanning 13 points, including forced labor, child labor, discrimination, occupational health and safety, wages, and working hours, through to grievance mechanisms and community participation. On animal welfare too, there line up a per-facility health management plan, disease management, biosecurity, water quality, reduction of mortality, and the handling and slaughter process.
Feed-mill certification was already made mandatory in February 2026
That feed mills entered the scope of the audit is not something that began this September. The ASC's Feed Standard page clearly states that v1.1, released on May 1, 2025, was not enforced on November 1, 2025, was replaced by v1.2 released on December 19, 2025, and became valid and mandatory from February 2, 2026. If a counterpart says they are "already compliant," checking which version shows how fresh it is.
Feed accounts for up to 90% of a farm's environmental footprint
The reason the ASC steps into feed is also on the same page. More than 70% of farmed seafood, excluding algae, is raised on feed, and feed is in many cases the highest input cost for the producer. A single pellet of compound feed can contain up to 50 kinds of ingredients. Feed accounts for up to 90% of a farm's environmental footprint.
The audit reaches the suppliers of ingredients with an inclusion rate over 1%
The supply network of ingredients exceeding a 1% inclusion rate becomes the subject of due diligence, with plant-based ingredients required to have low risk of illegal deforestation and land conversion, and marine ingredients low risk of IUU fishing and endangered species. For fishmeal and fish oil, MarinTrust and MSC serve as stepping stones.
Counting the ASC's public data, Vietnam's certified feed mills number 15
The report conveys, as figures the ASC presented at the training, that for feed mills 148 mills in 34 countries are in the program, 124 certified and 24 under audit, and that of Vietnam's 20 mills 13 are certified and 7 under audit. To confirm, querying "Find a Feed Mill" on September 25 gave 140 certificate records, 156 mill sites, 34 countries and regions, and 128 certified at the site level.
| Country / region | Number of certified feed-mill sites |
|---|---|
| Vietnam | 15 |
| Ecuador | 10 |
| Norway | 10 |
| Chile | 8 |
| Turkey | 8 |
| Mexico | 7 |
| Greece | 6 |
| India | 6 |
The source is the top 8 countries in the ASC's "Find a Feed Mill" (queried September 25). With a gap of 5 from second place down, it sits as a country unlikely to stumble upstream when ASC conditions are attached to exports to Japan.
The gap between the 13 mills presented at the venue and the data as of September 25
The training's figure of 13 and the database's 15 do not match. Vietnam's registrations number 23: 15 certified, 6 under initial audit, 1 with initial procedures incomplete, and 1 not granted certification. Of the certified, the three newest had their validity periods begin between July and August 2026, before the training on September 15. It is reasonable to see this not as 2 increasing in 10 days but as a difference in counting method or reference point, and the surest thing is to pull the figure you write in a specification yourself on the day.
By target species: 9 for pangasius, 7 for shrimp
Dividing the 15 certified mills by target species gives 9 for pangasius, 7 for shrimp, 7 for tilapia, and 2 for tropical marine fish, with overlaps. Freshwater trout and seabass/seabream are also 1 each.
| Certificate holders (excerpt) | Target species | Validity period |
|---|---|---|
| Nutreco International Vietnam（Thuan Dao） | Shrimp, pangasius, and others | July 1, 2028 |
| C.P. Vietnam（Aquaculture Business） | Shrimp | July 17, 2028 |
| GreenFeed Viet Nam | Pangasius, tilapia, and others | July 31, 2028 |
| Viet Uc Aqua Feed | Shrimp | July 10, 2029 |
The 6 under initial audit include GODACO Seafood's Vinh Long mill. Following the reshuffling of sales channels, the article on Godaco heading to Asia as US shrimp stalls—overlaying it, you can see that the review of sales destinations and the upstream certification audit are advancing at the same time.
How the ASC answered the 10 sticking points VASEP brought in
The training set aside dedicated time for Vietnamese companies to put to the ASC the points where they snag in practice. The 10 groups VASEP compiled are: antibiotics and animal welfare, the TraceASC tracking system, buffer-zone distance, salinity and well water levels, waste management, certificate validity and suspension, assessment of multi-species farming zones, retroactivity of effect, and legal problems specific to Vietnam.
Shrimp from a treated pond cannot be sold as ASC product
On antibiotics, the ASC reiterated that use for preventive purposes is prohibited. If disease occurs, treatment is permitted from an animal-welfare standpoint, but the treated shrimp lot must be separated and cannot be sold as an ASC-certified product. As a buyer, asking whether they can ship certified lots and non-certified lots separately is closer to the reality than asking whether certification exists.
TraceASC's productivity and feed amounts are not shown to competitors
On TraceASC, the ASC stated clearly that commercial data such as productivity, feed amounts, and stocking density are not shared with competitors. To reduce duplicate entry, it is advancing bulk upload via Excel, and GDST-compliant management systems will be connectable by API. In residue testing, the handling of SEM—which can be present in the shell as naturally occurring or as a background value—became a point, and it was confirmed that testing is done on the edible part, that is, the shrimp meat. Monitoring of the groundwater level is limited to areas where water stress is "high" or "extremely high."
Three things Japanese buyers should ask before ordering
Certificates are by mill site; you cannot narrow by company name
A certificate is tied to the mill site, not the company name. Even if a counterpart with multiple mills says they "use ASC feed," which mill is certified is not determined from the company name. If you note the certificate number, site name, and validity period, anyone can cross-check it. the article on a Ca Mau shrimp-farming cooperative obtaining ASC certification—put together with it, you can also see that the unit of the certificate differs between the farm and the feed mill.
For counterparts without certification, there is an AIP of up to three years
The ASC also introduced the ASC Improver Programme. An aquaculture improvement project (AIP) runs up to three years, executed in stages from a gap analysis, accompanied by third-party verification and public disclosure of progress. When a trading partner cannot meet the standard, by asking which stage of which year it is in, you can judge whether it fits into next season's sourcing plan.
Pulling farms on the same day too: valid certificates number 78 for shrimp
Querying "Find a Farm" for Vietnam in the same manner, of 225 certificates 127 are valid. They were 78 for shrimp, 37 for pangasius, 7 for tropical marine fish, 3 for tilapia, and 2 for bivalves. Also included are 43 withdrawn, 18 surrendered, and 10 expired—dividing on whether they can be maintained after acquisition. Because one certificate can include multiple sites, the number of farms is higher than this. In VASEP's report, the ASC positions Vietnam, 14 years from introduction, as third in the world in certified shrimp output and the largest producer of ASC pangasius.
| Item to confirm | How to check | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Feed-mill certification | Query by certificate number or company name and note the site name and validity period | ASC Find a Feed Mill |
| Farm certification | Narrow by country and species and check whether the status is certified | ASC Find a Farm |
| Standard version | Feed is v1.2; for farms, whether it is the interim version V1.0.1A2 or the new version | The ASC's standards page |
| Progress of an uncertified partner | Ask the AIP's start timing and stage and the public status of verification | Confirmation with the trading partner |
The next move is to run the candidate feed mills and farms through the ASC's two search screens on the same date and put the certificate number, site name, validity period, and status into a single table. It takes about 30 minutes, and gaps between the counterpart's explanation and the public data emerge on the spot. As with the venue's 13 and the day's 15, if the counting method and the point in time differ, the answer changes too. the article on CP's feed mill getting going in Ca Mau—lined up with it, you can also see that the construction of a new mill and the acquisition of a certificate advance on different clocks.
