People increasingly care about where their seafood comes from. The blue MSC label makes it easy for your customers to select sustainable, wild seafood that they can trust.
Cost to use the MSC label
Most organisations that sign a licence to use the MSC label are liable to pay annual fees and, depending on the label use, royalties.
If you’re an education institute, media, charity, an ASI approved assessment body or NGO raising public awareness of sustainable seafood, then you can apply to use the MSC label for free.
Your licensing fees help us reach more fisheries around the world increasing the supply of certified sustainable seafood.
See below for foodservice rates
Annual fee
Once you've signed a licence you will pay an annual fee. The level of the annual fee payable is determined by the total net value of MSC certified product sold by your company during a UK financial year (April – March), except for menu or fish counter items where the annual fee is based on net purchases.
The annual fee is due at the beginning of each royalty year, which starts 1 April.
For existing licensees, the actual sales from the previous royalty year are used to determine the annual fee. For new licensees, the annual fee will be based on an estimation of sales for the royalty year.
Different fees apply for foodservice businesses.
Annual fees applicable up to 31 March 2023
| Value of MSC labelled seafood purchased/sold | Annual fee |
| £0 – £130,000 GBP | £160 GBP |
| £130,001 – £330,000 GBP | £800 GBP |
| > £330,000 GBP | £1,600 |
If you are a fishmonger reporting annual purchases of up to £130,000, you’ll pay an annual fee of £160 and no royalties.
Annual fees applicable from 1 April 2023
| Value of MSC labelled seafood purchased/sold | Annual fee |
| £0 – £250,000 | £200 GBP |
| £250,001 – £500,000 | £500 GBP |
| £500,001 - £1,000,000 | £1000 GBP |
| £1,000,001 – £5,000,000 | £2,000 GBP |
| £5,000,001 or greater | £4,000 GBP |
If you are a fishmonger reporting annual purchases of up to £250,000, you’ll pay an annual fee of £200 and no royalties.
If you are a B2B company that does not label any products but wishes to promote your Chain of Custody certification using the MSC ecolabel, for example on your website, you only pay the annual fee. The level of annual fee is determined by the total net value of MSC certified seafood sold.
Royalties
If you are using the MSC ecolabel on consumer facing products, you will also need to pay royalties starting at 0.5% on the net wholesale value of your MSC labelled product sales.
For fresh fish counter or menu items will be charged on net purchases.
| MSC labelled sales / purchases (GBP) of consumer facing products | Royalty rate |
| £0 GBP – £10,000,000 GBP | 0.5% |
| £10,000,001 GBP – 20,000,000 GBP | 0.45% |
| £20,000,001 GBP – 30,000,000 GBP | 0.4% |
| £30,000,001 GBP – 40,000,000 GBP | 0.35% |
| £40,000,001 GBP and greater | 0.3% |
Usage costs for foodservice
If you are a foodservice business with 225 sites or less you will pay an annual fee to use the MSC label on your menus and other marketing materials, plus additional site fees if you have more than one site.
If you have more than 225 sites, you will not qualify for the site fee and will be subject to MSC’s standard annual fee and royalty fee structure.A 25% discount on your fees will be applied if you hold both ASC and MSC licence agreements.
Annual fee
Once you've signed a licence you will pay an annual fee. The level of the annual fee payable is determined by the total net value of MSC certified seafood purchased by your company during a UK financial year (April - March).
| Value of MSC certified seafood purchased (GBP) | Annual fee (GBP) |
| £0 – £250,000 | £160 |
| £250,001 – £500,000 | £400 |
| £500,001 - £1,000,000 | £800 |
| £1,000,001 – £5,000,000 | £1,600 |
| £5,000,001 or greater | £3,200 |
Royalties
If you are a foodservice business with 25 sites or less (Small Businesses) or have between 26-225 sites (Medium Businesses) you will also pay royalties.
Foodservice businesses with a single site only pay the annual fee for each year.
| Number of sites | Royalty fee per site (GBP) |
| 1 | £0 (included in the Annual fee) |
| 2-4 | £160 x (total number of sites – 1) |
| 5-9 | £150 x (total number of sites – 1) |
| 10-14 | £140 x (total number of sites – 1) |
| 15-19 | £130 x (total number of sites – 1) |
| 20-25 | £120 x (total number of sites – 1) |
| 26-225 | £600 x (√ (sq. root) total number of sites -1) |
The number of foodservice sites will be determined by the number listed on your Chain of Custody Certificate.
Reporting your sales
We will request a completed turnover declaration on a quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis – depending on how much MSC labelled seafood your company has sold – in order to calculate the annual fees and royalties.
Contact the MSCI label licensing team
[email protected]Looking for Aquaculture Stewardship Council?
To apply for an ASC label licence, please visit the ASC website
Find out more
MSC label guidelines
Guidelines setting out the basic rules for how to use the MSC label on product packaging, restaurant menus, fish counters and promotional material.
Approve my use of the MSC label
The MSC label and associated claims are a registered trademark and any usage must be approved.
Promote sustainable seafood
Promote your commitment to sourcing certified sustainable seafood and increase sales of your MSC labelled products. Use our marketing assets and toolkits.