Friend of the Sea is updating its labelling system and introducing a FOS ID on certified products to support checks on certification and traceability. The identifier is part of the scheme’s own requirements, rather than an EU legal obligation. For seafood businesses, the wider issue is that a certification logo cannot substantiate every environmental claim.
Italy’s new rules on environmental claims in consumer-facing communications have applied since 27 September 2026, under Legislative Decree No. 30/2026.
For the seafood sector, the principle is clear: certification and environmental claims are different things. A label may attest to compliance with a standard, but the wording on the packaging must remain precise, substantiated and consistent with what that certification covers.
The broader framework is explained in the overview of Italy’s new rules on seafood environmental claims. The first practical effects are now becoming visible.
What is changing on Friend of the Sea labels
Friend of the Sea announced the changes in the programme for its webinar scheduled for 29 September, which focused on the new European rules and guidance for certified companies.
The main development concerns packaging: an updated label format, more specific sustainability claims and a FOS ID on products.
According to Friend of the Sea, the identifier will allow checks on certification validity, traceability and supply chain information. The organisation also outlined guidance for updating website claims and monitoring unauthorised use of its logo.
The full programme is available on the official Friend of the Sea website.
The FOS ID is a scheme requirement
Neither Directive (EU) 2024/825 nor Italy’s Legislative Decree No. 30/2026 requires seafood businesses to use a FOS ID or an equivalent code. It is a requirement introduced by Friend of the Sea within its own certification scheme.
The legislation instead requires voluntary sustainability labels to be based on certification schemes meeting the prescribed criteria, or to be established by public authorities.
For businesses, the important distinction concerns the relationship between the label and the message. Certification can support only the characteristics covered by its standard; it cannot justify broader environmental claims about the product.
Environmental claims need their own evidence
This distinction has practical consequences for seafood producers, processors and brands.
An environmental claim about an entire product cannot be justified by a characteristic that concerns only one part of it, one process or one aspect of production.
The same care is needed beyond the pack. Packaging, company websites, online stores and promotional materials should communicate consistent information without overstating the scope of certification.
Friend of the Sea’s announced update therefore goes beyond redesigning a label. It illustrates how certification schemes are beginning to address the way companies use their marks in communications to the market.
Existing stock also needs to be reviewed
Italy’s Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT), in guidance updated on 1 October, clarifies that products manufactured or packaged before 27 September 2026 can continue to be marketed after that date. Businesses must be able to demonstrate the earlier production or packaging and take reasonable, proportionate steps to remove or correct non-compliant information.
Packaging and labels produced or purchased before that date may also be used under those safeguards, with an indicative six-month horizon for stocks to be exhausted.
Seafood businesses therefore need to assess each claim against the product, the certification used and the information actually communicated to consumers.
Certification still has value, but it cannot replace precise wording.
On seafood packaging, the shift is towards more specific environmental statements backed by evidence.
