GDST Standards and Materials - Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability

The GDST Standards and Materials

The Core Normative Standards and ancillary materials available for download on this page are the current version of the GDST standards. They reflect the work of dozens of companies involved in the original drafting process between 2017 and 2020, with decisions adopted by consensus in numerous working groups and subject to the review of all GDST members at the time. As noted below, they have recently received their first technical update. These documents constitute the full set of the GDST standards and materials.

If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the GDST Secretariat at info@traceability-dialogue.org.

To download the materials, please click the document titles in the table below.

Document Title	Contents	Translations
*Guide to the GDST Standards and Materials, V 1.1*	Overview of the GDST standards packet contents + “How to use these documents”	Translations of V 1.0 documents are available here.
*Executive Summary, V 1.1*	A two-page description of GDST standards.	Translations of V 1.1 Standards revisions are
*Core Normative Standards, V 1.1*	The GDST standards themselves	forthcoming.
**Basic Universal List of KDEs (spreadsheet), V 1.1**	e-spreadsheet of Appendices to Core Normative Standards
*Explanatory Materials, V 1.1*	Non-technical background and introductory materials
*Technical Implementation Guidance, V 1.1*	Additional technical materials to facilitate implementation

Technical History and Release of GDST 1.1 Update

The GDST standards and materials, version 1.0, were first published in March 2020 after three years of extensive dialogue and technical consultation with GDST members and external experts (the original 1.0 materials can be found in the standards archives as a reference). In March 2022, the standards were updated to GDST 1.1. Most of the changes included in the update reflected minor adjustments and corrections of drafting errors that were discovered during the first twenty months of implementation. The main substantive change was a new requirement in the Technical Implementation Guidance to use the GS1 Digital Link communications protocol as the unique means of establishing computer-to-computer communications for the transfer of GDST-compliant data. GDST 1.0 had not prescribed a single of communications protocol, which was found to inhibit interoperability. All of the updates in version 1.1 were reviewed and approved by a working group of external experts convened by the Secretariat for that purpose.

In June 2022, the GDST Capability Test was released as an on-line tool for verifying the ability of software systems to send and receive all GDST-required data in the correct format, using the Digital Link communications protocol. Software systems or products that pass the Capability Test are authorized to bear the GDST-Capable logo.

Disclaimer -- Although the GDST Capability Test provides a means to verify claims about the ability of software to support GDST compliance, the GDST does not presently have any mechanism (or authorize any third party to offer a mechanism) to verify claims of actual GDST compliance (e.g., whether a traceability system is delivering fully GDST-compliant information in a transactional environment). The GDST is working towards the development of compliance verification benchmarks and/or systems to be made available in the future.