Costs
There are 2 potential costs involved when you use the MSC ecolabel:
Which of these costs you pay when you use the MSC ecolabel depends on your organisation and how you use the MSC ecolabel.
No costs: Certified fisheries, non-commerical organisations without foodservice operations, the media and accredited educational institutions do not incur any fees or royalties to use the MSC ecolabel. Read the MSCI policy on exemption from annual fees and royalties for foodservice in education institutions (PDF, 291kb)
Annual fee
Which organisations pay an annual fee?
Most supply chain, retail and foodservice companies will incur an annual fee to use the MSC ecolabel.
How is the annual fee calculated?
The annual fee is based on the total value of MSC certified seafood sold/purchased by your organisation during a UK financial year (April-March). The annual fee is calculated as follows:
| Value of MSC certified seafood purchased/sold | Annual fee |
|---|---|
| 0 - $200,000 | $250 |
| $200,000-$500,000 | $1,000 |
| >$500,000 | $2,000 |
Royalties
Which organisations pay royalties?
If you are using the MSC ecolabel on consumer facing (retail) products or on menus, you will need to pay royalties in addition to the annual fee.
How are royalties calculated?
Royalties are calculated at 0.5% on the value of seafood that is sold/purchased.
During the whole supply chain of a product or menu item, royalties are only collected once.
Example costs for using the ecolabel
A company that expects to sell USD$100,000 of consumer facing MSC products would pay an annual fee, $250, at the beginning of the royalty year (April).
Then, at the end of each charging period (Apr-Sept and Oct-Mar), they would calculate their total sales. If they sold $30,000 of MSC-labelled products from Apr-Sept they would pay 0.5% = $150. If they sold $70,000 from Oct-Mar, they would pay an additional 0.5% = $350.
How are fees and royalties spent?
As well as paying for administration costs of MSC International (the trading arm of the MSC) revenues from fees and royalties contribute to the running of the charity, MSC, which otherwise relies on voluntary donations from various organisations such as philanthropic foundations. In this way the MSC charity can generate some of its own income, in an effort to become more financially independent and reduce its dependence on such donations.
Further information on costs
For a full breakdown of the costs for using the MSC ecolabel refer to the document Categories of ecolabel use charges (PDF, 50kb).
