About Licensing

Working within the commercial arm of our organisation, the Licensing function plays a pivotal role managing the use of the MSC ecolabel, which enables MSC’s partners to promote their commitment to certified sustainable seafood. Critically, it also ensures MSC can continue its work and commitment to improving the future health of the oceans.

The MSC's blue fish label is found on more than 25,000 seafood products which makes the MSC label the most widely used and recognised label for certified sustainable seafood.

Based in London, the team ensures the MSC trademarks are used and presented to consumers worldwide, by checking that each usage meets MSC guidelines. As part of this process product details are registered providing the organisation with core data on the MSC program.

Most of MSC’s funding, which support the organisation’s core activities, comes from the label licensing fee paid by brands, retailers and foodservice organisations which choose to use the MSC label on consumer-facing products. The Licensing team oversees the collection of financial data from MSC partners which determines the level of fees payable by each partner and enables timely issue of invoices.

Over the next few years as the demand for MSC labelled products grows licensing workloads will continue to increase technical solutions, to make data collection and product approval more efficient, will be a key part of how the team will meet this demand.