Old Memberships Are Ending; New Memberships Starting on October 1st, 2022
In accordance with GDST announcements during the seafood expos in both Boston and Barcelona earlier this year (and in various other GDST member communications), the GDST is transitioning away from an NGO-convened, funder-supported initiative, into a global industry-funded, membership and advocacy organization dedicated to advancing the standardization and adoption of interoperable traceability throughout fishery and aquaculture supply chains. This transition was originally envisioned by the GDST Steering Committee starting in 2019, and will be completed on October 1, 2022, with the launch of the new GDST organization. The new structure will provide a permanent home to continue the GDST’s vital mission and further strengthen the involvement of our members and stakeholders. We are grateful for the contributions and energetic support of the Dialogue participants and current GDST members over the past years–you have been the core of the GDST’s success so far! Now we need to inform you of the forthcoming changes to your membership, and how you can continue to be involved in the GDST’s important work going forward into the future.
What does this mean for current members?
1. All current GDST un-paid memberships will end on September 30, 2022. This is true for all categories of current GDST members, including:
- Supply chain companies and retailers who signed up as observers/participants of the GDST 1.0 standards drafting process (April 2017 to February 2020) or after the launch of GDST 1.0 in March 2020 by publicly “adopting” GDST standards through the website;
- Traceability and IT vendor companies who have publicly endorsed the GDST standards through the GDST website; and
- Non-industry stakeholders (NGOs, government agencies, academics, etc.) who have participated in the GDST’s Dialogue Advisory Group (DAG).
2. After October 1, 2022, being part of the GDST will require signing up for a paid membership. Membership in the new GDST will require paying a fee and meeting certain membership criteria. While companies that were involved in the GDST drafting process or that already made public commitments to implement the GDST standards may still be acknowledged on the GDST website, only companies that actively join the new GDST organization will be listed as GDST members and given access to GDST processes and services.
3. New GDST memberships will be flexible and open to an expanded range of companies and organizations. When the GDST was founded in 2017, membership was only available to companies directly involved in seafood supply chains. Other stakeholders—including for-profit solution providers, NGOs, academic institutions, and government agencies—were invited to join the Dialogue Advisory Group (DAG) instead. Now, all kinds of stakeholders will have an opportunity to join the GDST. New members will be able to choose among different tiers of membership, depending on their levels of interest and engagement. Membership tiers will be priced from $150-$6,000 per year.
Details about the terms of membership and other aspects of membership transition will be communicated to all current members and stakeholders in the weeks ahead. For more information immediately, please email us at info@traceability-dialogue.org!