Research and Development Initiatives-3

Agricultural, forestry, and fishery products involve multiple industries across the supply chain from upstream (production) to downstream (consumption), and in recent years adaptation to climate change has become an urgent issue. Even traditional local products are not produced entirely within a single region; instead, production systems spanning multiple areas (e.g. land–sea collaborative systems) have developed. Therefore, for untapped resources that contribute to climate change adaptation and environmental conservation, as well as for products produced and used through land–sea collaboration, it is necessary to visualize environmental loads across the entire supply chain connecting those regions, to implement PDCA cycles based on the results, and to communicate with stakeholders including consumers – making efforts through standards and certifications indispensable. In this task, drawing on the concept of Geographical Indication (GI) regional certification (which requires coordinating production methods, collaboration, and consensus-building within a specific area), we will incorporate environmental conservation criteria and propose a certification that combines area-based standards with environmental standards.