There are several ways in which certification can be developed and applied.

First Party This type of certification is based upon a self-declaration by the producer that it meets the requirements of a certain standard. There is no independent oversight agency for first party certification. This type of claim is generally of limited value, as most consumers do not trust self-declaration. In the case of environmental issues, self-declaration is usually seen as a "green wash" approach, i.e., paying lip service to certain issues such as sustainability.

Second Party This type of certification is based upon an assessment that the producer meets the requirements of a standard set by a group of consumers, by government or by a non-government organization. This type of certification is usually better than first-party certification because the producers do not make the standards and assessment of compliance themselves. However, the standards are often less than objective and comprehensive as they are often subject to the interests of the group that sets them and assesses compliance, e.g., national interests or a narrowly defined agenda taking precedence over the integrity of the certification.

Third Party This type of certification is based upon internationally accepted standards created by a transparent, inclusive, international, multi-stakeholder process. Compliance with the standards is voluntary and is assessed by an accredited, independent third party that has no vested interest in the standards, certification, product or any particular stakeholder group. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines third party certification as the highest order for proof of compliance.

The third method is the most prefered since it is considered no obligation for over certain party to other party.

In the early 2000, in many stakeholders in Indonesia began to develop marine ornamental certification issue. In government and private sectors this issue grew as the market demand of environmental friendly products increased. The harvest of animal must not degrade the environment condition and the exported animals must arrive in a healthy condition. Although Ngos people think pro and contra about this certification,they consider certification could be a tool to minimize exploitation and ocean destruction, and could raise awareness from the businessmen upon then environment condition.

The government through Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries and Ministry of Industry and Trade started by building a team which will be able to encourage and facilitate marine ornamental certification system development. Unfortunatelly this process didn't run well.

Terangi and Certification

In the mid of 2000, several NGOs are workin on the certification issues. In early discussion among them, Terangi, WWF, CRMP, KEHATI, LEI, TELAPAK, JARING PELA, dan TNC agreed to form an informal group to communicate and transfer information to other groups and other institutions such as government and private sectors. This is the very beginning of Terangi involvement of certification which became one of the focuses in Policy Program.

The informal group was then called Indo MCC had conducted several discussions inviting other NGOs, private sectors (AKKII,KIHI, and ECOSAFE), and MAC. The discussions were involving general description of certification system based on the experience in forestry, the chosen priority amongst marine products and which part is going to develop the certification system. The small team comprised of some expets was formed to start with the certification system. The implementation didn't work too well either since the representative of the institutions kept changing, making it difficult to keep track.

In the next step WWF, Departement of Industry and Trade, and Terangi has been conducting socialization of certification issue to many areas which are part in marine product trade chain. Socialization has been given to local government, NGOs, campus, and fishermen in 9 areas covering Batam, Padang, Belitung, Lampung, Jepara, Banyuwangi, Bali> Lombok, dan Makasar. This socialization aimed to disseminating information about environmental friendly marine product issue in the world trade.

Marine Aquarium Council (MAC) is an organisation working marine product certification system development. In Indonesia, they developed cooperation with some local businessman and NGOs to undertake MAC certification system. One of the program they built to develop the system which can be implemented from the fishermen to the exporters is Capacity Building.

In order to eliminate the pressure of coral reefs using activity, Terangi decide that so far certification system is the the most feasible way, considering of:

Considering that Terangi has concern and commitment to certification, MAC has appointed Terangi as the coordinator in Capacity Building activities in Indonesia, in the framework of MAC cooperation with NGOs (Terangi, TELAPAK, and Yayasan Bahtera Nusantara). Terangi became facilitators in the cooperation between MAC and AKKII. This group also builds cooperation with WWF.

The cooperation in Capacity Building among Terangi, TELAPAK, Yayasan Bahtera Nusantara, and MAC which has been undertaken since February 2002

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