 Ceviche de camarón, shrimp tempura or shrimp risotto, no matter the recipe. Behind the food on our tables is a complex supply chain stretching across the globe. The international seafood trade was worth $150 billion in 2020, employing millions of people and providing an important source of protein and culinary enjoyment. In helping ensure food safety is the Codex Alimentaris, a set of global quality standards launched in the early 1960s by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Health Organization and their partners. Tackling antimicrobial resistance that increasingly threatens global public health is a special area of focus for Codex Alimentaris officials. Because of our global food system, antimicrobial resistant bacteria and antimicrobial residues can travel across the world through globally traded food products. Therefore, Codex Alimentaris has supported countries and their food regulatory agencies by developing guidelines and codes of practice to help combat antimicrobial resistance. The European Union, one of the world's largest importers of food, applies maximum residue limits on the food it imports standards consistent with and supported by Codex's guidelines. This has resulted in the rejection of food imports that don't meet these antimicrobial residue standards. In response, some exporting countries have reduced their antibiotic use in aquaculture to meet or exceed Codex standards and to meet growing demand for sustainably produced food. A good example of this trend comes from Ecuador, which was the world's top producer and exporter of shrimp in 2021, accounting for a quarter of the international shrimp trade. In 2018, a group of Ecuadorian shrimp producers founded the Sustainable Shrimp Partnership to address the problem of excessive antibiotic use in shrimp production. The FAO supports the judicious use of these critical medicines to treat sick animals. SSP certifies producers that have achieved zero antibiotic use, with the intent of helping them access export markets where consumers value shrimp produced without using antibiotics. They felt that in the marketplace it was necessary to demonstrate or have evidence that the products their customers or their clients are acquiring are safe for their consumption. SSP builds upon certification by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, a global nonprofit which restricts use of antimicrobials designated by the WHO as critically important for human medicine. SSP goes beyond these standards with three additional requirements. Neutral impact on water quality, traceability through the shrimp's life cycle, and journey to the consumer, and no antibiotic use at any time in the production cycle. So when we do the testing on antibiotics, we do it to the 15% of the pumps that are in production. We do it also on more than eight families on antibiotics and more than 27 substances. In addition to continual unannounced testing of antibiotic residues and water quality, SSP certification requires full traceability of the shrimp. To do this, SSP uses a blockchain technology product called Food Trust to gather standardized data across SSPs different participating companies to allow consumers to see the journey of the shrimp from farm to fork. Complying with the SSP certification process has been aided by Equator's history of responsible and sustainable shrimp production where farms may have only 10 to 25 shrimp per square meter. This stocking density is much lower than in other countries and reduces the likelihood of disease outbreaks and the need to use antibiotics. In addition, the Ecuadorian shrimp industry continues to navigate many challenges. Like working to reduce impact on land, including important mangrove forests that serve as carbon sinks and livelihood sources for local communities. Another goal is increasing sustainable shrimp partnership participation among Ecuadorian producers. Only 3.5% of Ecuadorian shrimp exports are SSP certified today. Even the companies that have joined SSP, not all of their farms have made the investments to participate in SSP monitoring. However, SSP is growing its reach by training small shrimp producers to meet ASC and SSP standards. I think it's essential that through the Sustainable Shrimp Partnership, the Ecuadorian world shows that it not only has the ability to export large quantities of product, in this case the shrimp, but to do it in a correct and sustainable way in the long term. The existence of the CODEX Alimentar has helped set the stage for Ecuadorian shrimp producers to engage in collective action to ensure high food quality standards in such a way that advances public health and economic success together.