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Certification in South Africa!
Stefan van As explains the challenges and outcomes of certification
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Did the standards prompt you to make some changes in your farming practices?
The standards certainly assisted us in becoming more structured and better organized in respect of Quality Management Systems. Establishing a full-time Quality Manager position with a supporting compliance monitoring staff and system, assisted us in achieving higher levels of compliance on quality management.
The increase focus on compliance monitoring required by the ICFA Standards resulted in the refinement of procedures and farming practices. Regular performance evaluations allowed us to identify and highlighted areas for improvements.
What do you expect from the standards implementation?
The ICFA standards is designed to be non-prescriptive, and outcomes based. The ICFA Good operating Practices and the Guidance documents assist farmers on how to demonstrate compliance to the ICFA Standards and the achievement of the desired outcomes. IFCA Certification provides assurance to the upstream value chain that the farm has achieved the implementation of appropriate monitoring and measurement of the desired outcomes contained in the ICFA Standards.
Why did you consider the need for certification?
When ICFA was founded in September 2016, some industry stakeholders were already doing their independent farm audits. Regulators and leading industry players used different requirements (industry codes) and supplier’s criteria to regulate farms, without any harmonization. It was clear that the establishment of a harmonized and uniform internationally recognized standards and supporting Certification Scheme was needed to provide farms with clarity and certainty of what the requirements they need to meet and simultaneously provide industry stakeholders and consumers with the assurance that the certified farms are legally complaint and is striving towards the achievement of humane husbandry practices.
ICFA certification serves to demonstrates the farm’s compliance to uniform standards through independent audit. This contributes towards the restoration of the industry’s public image and serves to rebuild the tarnished image propagated by Animal Rights groups.
How long did it take to obtain the certification?
It took us approximately 12 months to convert our existing documentation system into an ICFA compliant QMS system. Once implemented, a period of implementation and evidence gathering is required, followed by internal audits. This took approximately 18 months to complete the transition process.
The Covid travel restriction did cause a delay as the preparation work had to be done using internal resources and training without the assistance of external consultants.
What did you consider the most demanding in the certification process?
We are an owner manager entity with limited management resources. The implementation of a formal documented compliance system consisting of monitoring, measurement, and evaluation, required an upgrade to our IT systems needed to gather accurate production data. The volume of data had to be presentation into management reports for analyses to support management evaluation and decisions. These reports serves to provide the evidence needed to demonstrate the fulfillment of desired outcomes and performance targets.
What is the recent achievement that you are the proudest of?
Our IT systems provides us with full traceability of individual crocodiles through their lifecycle and products (skins and meat) derived from the crocodiles can be traced back to individual crocodiles. The QMS system resulted in greater alignment of staff and our production targets. Management can now focus more time on problem solving and improvements.
Do you already notice a return or some benefits from the standards implementation or the certification?
We have We have noticed improvements and consistency in production targets. This can partly be attributed to improved SOP compliance monitoring and performance evaluations, especially in animal-based welfare indicators.
Achieving ICFA certification requires increased in operational expenditure and fixed investment by crocodilian farms. We anticipate that the post Covid economic recovery will filter down the value chain and improved demand for crocodile products produced by ICFA certified crocodilian farms. This increased demand and commensurate rent sharing across the value chain will improve the financial stability for crocodilian farms.
Recognition of the ICFA Certification scheme by the main industry stakeholders and their commitment to source exclusively from ICFA certified farms is a is a reward for the considerable efforts that was put into the development of the ICFA Certification Scheme and the commitment and investment that farms have to make to achieve certification.
Are there fields on which you consider that the standards could be more demanding?
The initial goal of the ICFA Standards Committee was to ensure that the ICFA standards ensure that all certified farms meet both international (Cites, OIE, etc.) and applicable local legal requirements, and to set minimum standards for humane husbandry practices supported by either science or established good practice. The standards had to be equally relevant across the different crocodilian species and needed to harmonize the different customer compliance audits into a single, independent audit, accepted by different stakeholders. The ICFA Standards and Certification Scheme have achieved these initial goals.
Going forward, regulators, scientists and society has become more aware of the broader sustainability issues that includes environmental, social, biodiversity and conservation impacts of industries on the planet. The recent ICFA Standards update recognized the need for increased sustainability and the ICFA standards now incorporates additional requirements to increase the crocodilian farm’s awareness (and commitment) towards limiting its environmental impacts, contribution towards conservation of the species and biodiversity and social development.
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MEMBERS’ INSIGHT
Ricardo Colato explains his business
and the role of ICFA
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What is the name of your business? What does your business do?
The name of our company is Riccardo Colato Srl. We mainly trade precious leather for the fashion industry with a special focus on alligator, crocodilians and ostrich, although we offer basically any precious leather. We are also developing projects on new materials and the re-use of waste parts from luxury products.
When did you join ICFA? Why did you feel it was a good idea to join ICFA?
Our company formally joined ICFA in 2019, however, we feel that the process started a few years earlier.
Thanks to a truly illuminated gentleman, Jerome Caraguel, our company (and I would say our industry) started to understand that our industry needed a solid step forward. With Cites certification, we were surely ahead of times, but through the implementation of ICFA standards we continuously ensure that what we do stays ahead of times not only in terms of traceability, but also in regards of sustainability and all those aspects that are beyond the mere sale and transformation of the hides. We are trying to take as many initiatives as possible to ensure our company does its part in these challenging times, and supporting ICFA is surely something that makes us proud.
How long have you been in the alligator/crocodile business?
I was actually “born” in this business as my father and later on my mother ran an artisanal workshop which produced belts. The company has been sold but is still running. As a kid and teenager, I worked there daily after school.
This productive process gave me the chance to get to know reptile leathers and learn about all its endless properties and features.
How did you get your start?
In 2005, when I was 16 years old, my family sent me to an alligator skins supplier in Louisiana. I therefore worked 2 full seasons on an alligator farm as a workman, from cleaning ponds to feeding from egg collection to the slaughtering process. Although I’m sure we keep learning everyday, this unique and prolonged experience made me understand a lot about the very initial process of what later became the job of my life. In 2011 I was employed by a trading company and in 2013 I established my own company.
What is the best memory with other ICFA member?
It is safe to say I harvest the best memories of my life from time spent with some of the ICFA members.
Collecting eggs in the wild or flying over alligator nests with an helicopter could be seen as pretty unusual where I was born and raised. This job is fantastic as you get the chance to develop true relationships beyond business which often ends up in sharing very nice times together.
But if I have to pick up a very special day, I must tell you about that time I visited Jerome in Bordeaux, France.
He was already retired at the time and the visit had no business purpose. Still, I feel I learned much more about our industry that single day than ever. With his simplicity and kindness, Jerome made me open my eyes in front of the fact that we are all so bound and connected to each other. I only than realized that buying and selling reptile skins goes way beyond demand and offer. Sure, we compete, but in order to keep competing we all depend from the passage before us, from the egg collection to the final quality check before the bag is sent to the shop.
I believe that’s how he imagined ICFA to work: a platform to strengthen each other through the initiatives of each member and let me underline that the cooperation we are experiencing now was unimaginable just a few years ago. This should be for us a reminder of our mutual responsibilities and lead us to the right choices day after day. As Marco Aurelio said “what doesn’t benefit the hive, doesn’t benefit the bee”.
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The 26th CSG Working Meeting was held at the Centro Internacional de Negocios y Convenciones de Chetumal, Chetumal, Mexico, on 3-9 July 2022. It was attended by 233 registered participants (186 in person, 47 virtually) from 34 countries; Mexico, USA, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Australia, Belize, Cuba, Philippines, Japan, United Kingdom, France, Guatemala, Israel, Panama, South Africa, Cote d’Ivoire, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Germany, Benin, Bolivia, Canada, Spain, Ghana, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Nepal, Portugal, Czech Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela and Zambia.
Considering that the theme for the Working Meeting was “Sustainable Use for Conservation”, it was emphasized that the sustainable use of biodiversity, based on the best available knowledge, is one of the main ways to conserve natural capital under a scheme of co-responsibility among the various sectors of society. To this end, it is essential to strengthen integration between academia, local communities and indigenous peoples, authorities at different levels and the responsible participation of the private sector. In this context, and as an example of the industry’s potential to support the sustainable, legal and traceable use of crocodiles, Grupo CUADRA organized a fashion show with more than 20 articles manufactured with skin of Morelet’s crocodile. In addition, Cocodrilia Farm offered tasting of crocodile meat after the fashion show.
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Fashion show Grupo Cuadra. Photograph: Gabriela López Segurajáuregui.
On each of the four days of the meeting, a keynote speech was delivered: José Sarukhán Kermez (Sustainable use for conservation); Grahame Webb (History of crocodile management in the Northern Territory: Lessons learned); Alvaro Velasco Barbieri (Conservation and sustainable use of crocodiles); and, Bruce Swedick (CSG Tomistoma Task Force: final report). In his keynote address, CSG Chair Grahame Webb (Australia) presented lessons learned in crocodile management in northern Australia that can be useful for working with species in other countries. Similarly, Alvaro Velasco’s (Venezuela) presentation emphasized that countries with good wild populations (as is the case of the Morelet’s crocodile) should strive to take advantage of the potential to establish sustainable use programs.
Various side meetings were held during the Working Meeting, including: Zoo Group, Red List Group, Industry Group, and Human Crocodile Conflict.
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Participants of 26th Working Meeting, including virtual participants on background screen. Drone photograph: Iván Alonso Aguirre Salazar and Roger Yashamir Ortiz Castro.
In his closing remarks, interim CSG Chair Alejandro Larriera thanked Secretary Luis Torres Llanes and his entire team from the Ministry of Agricultural, Rural Development and Fisheries of Quintana Roo, for the organization and development of all the activities in Chetumal. He also informed that the next CSG Working Meeting will be held in mid-2024, in Darwin, Australia.
Report written by:
José Rogelio Cedeño Vázquez for the CSG Newsletter
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Sustainable development stories from ICFA members
In Malawi, the use of ‘green water’ from the Corran Farming crocodile farm by smallholder farmers at the Namakoma Community Trust (NCT) has led to diversified and productive agriculture and aquaculture activities. The program was partially financed with UNDP funds.
A great example of how crocodile farming can benefit the local community.
Follow the link to watch the video of the project:
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Assessment report of sustainable use of wild species: full report released last October
Billions of people in developed and developing nations benefit daily from using wild species for food, energy, materials, medicine, recreation, inspiration and many other vital contributions to human well-being.
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Assessment Report on Sustainable Use of Wild Species offers insights, analysis and tools to establish more sustainable use of wild species of plants, animals, fungi and algae around the world.
The report is the result of four years of work by 85 leading experts from the natural and social sciences, holders of indigenous and local knowledge, and 200 contributing authors, drawing on more than 6,200 sources. The summary of the report was approved in July 2022 by representatives of the 139 Member States of IPBES in Bonn, Germany.
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Starting last year, ICFA is holding lectures in different fashion and design schools. Last January, ICFA had the pleasure to explain the sustainability of exotic leather to the students of Polimoda in Florence.
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