Submitting a complaint

Complaints should be submitted in writing using the MSC Notice of Complaint Form. When your complaint is received, we will check it to ensure that it is within the scope of our Complaints Procedure, and will inform you of whether or not your complaint has been accepted as meeting the criteria for investigation. If we need more information to determine whether we can accept your complaint, we will give you the opportunity to re-submit.

Please refer to the section below for types of complaints that cannot be handled using the MSC Complaints Procedure. 

If your complaint meets our criteria, we will form a Complaint Panel from MSC staff and/or the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. The Panel will include an investigator, who will objectively analyse and assess the complaint. The Investigator may contact you to request additional information during this time. 

The Investigator will report to the Panel, who will recommend to the MSC Executive Committee whether the complaint should or should not be upheld. If the Executive Committee is unable to reach agreement, the MSC Board of Trustees will make a final decision. If your complaint is upheld, the MSC will formulate a corrective action plan to ensure that the cause of the complaint is addressed. If your complaint is not upheld, the MSC may still formulate an improvement plan to address any issues identified during the investigation.

You will be notified of the outcome of the investigation, including any accompanying corrective action plan or improvement plan. If applicable, we will then contact you a final time to inform you when the corrective action plan or improvement plan has been completed. 

Other types of complaint

Issues that should not be submitted via the MSC Complaints Procedure.

• Conduct of Accreditation Services International (ASI) 
  Refer to the ASI Complaints Procedure
• Conduct of a Conformity Assessment Body (CAB)
  Refer to the CAB’s own complaints procedure. If the CAB does not satisfactorily address the grounds of the complaint, you should then refer the matter on to ASI via the ASI Complaints Procedure.
• Objection to a fishery certification decision
  Refer to the objections process under Engage with a fishery assessment
• Misuse of the MSC label
  Use the Report ecolabel misuse form
• Conduct of the MSC’s logo-licensing company, Marine Stewardship Council International licensing (MSCI)
  Send to ecolabel@msc.org
• Content of an MSC standard
  Send to standards@msc.org