By choosing DNV as your certification body you may be on a fast track in getting certified according to MSC's standards - either a fisheries certification according to the MSC environmental standard for sustainable fishing or a supply chain certification against the MSC Chain of Custody standard.

All certification bodies seeking to carry out certification against the sustainable fishing standard must undergo a rigorous accreditation process. The requirements are set by the MSC, and prospective certifiers are assessed for accreditation by an external, independent organisation called Accreditation Services International. The approved certifiers are also monitored to ensure that they keep delivering the same high quality service to their customers, and that they adhere to the regulations set forth by the MSC.

When DNV started working towards gaining accreditation and later in projects with our clients – we have asked ourselves in what way we can deliver extra value to our customers within the framework of a standardised process against a set standard. There are a few things that differentiate us from other providers.

• Although DNV is new to the MSC programme we have highly qualified project managers and auditors with several years of relevant experience.

• In the projects we have been involved in we have met deadlines, and the timeframe for certification has been significantly shorter than that offered by many of our competitors.

• Rather than approach it as a normal certification process we involve our best consultants in setting up a detailed project plan.

• We also identify stakeholders and experts at an early stage. We understand that the certification process is both costly and time-consuming. That is why we do our best to run it as efficiently as possible. Part of this is making sure that our clients know what information we require from them, and that it is sufficient for the selected experts to perform their analysis.