I had the pleasure of being in the room in Busan this week for a moment I’m genuinely proud of: GDST signing a Memorandum of Understanding with six incredible partners that include KAIST Auto-ID Labs, Pusan National University’s BPCS, MSC Korea, ASC Korea, Ocean Outcomes, and DataSpira, to build a safer, more transparent seafood ecosystem together.
Seafood traceability, being able to prove exactly where a fish came from and how it traveled to your plate, is quickly becoming a requirement, not a nice-to-have, for anyone exporting seafood into major markets like the US and EU. Retailers there are increasingly demanding traceability data aligned with the GDST standard, and new US food safety rules (FDA FSMA Section 204) will make this mandatory by 2028.
South Korea is a major seafood exporter, with 2025 exports hitting a record $3.33B. For Korean exporters, especially tuna and seaweed, building real traceability systems now, rather than scrambling later, is a competitive necessity.
That’s why this week’s signing mattered so much. This Memorandum of Understanding is to pilot end-to-end traceability for tuna, seaweed, and processed seafood, using the port city of Busan, Korea’s seafood hub, as the testbed. Today we shared respective organisations’ visions and activities to move forwards digitalization of seafood traceability centred on GDST standards.
Standing at the signing ceremony and progressing this collaboration as it takes shape in person was a genuinely meaningful moment for me, as the APAC Market Development Lead.
This MOU is a great start. Now the real work: bringing more companies and Solution Providers starting from Korea across the Asia-Pacific into the GDST community and standards. If that’s you, let’s talk.