Amortization of the asset begins when development is complete and the asset is available for use or sale. It is amortized over the  period of expected future benefit. Amortization is recorded in cost of sales.  High Liner monitors the level of product development costs and process development costs against all the criteria set out above. These  include the requirement to establish that a flow of economic benefits and the ability to use or sell the product or process developed is  probable, before costs are capitalized. For High Liner this is evident only shortly before a product is launched into the market or a  process is integrated into production. The level of costs incurred after these criteria have been met is currently not material. The Company’s operating segments are based on the geographic markets it serves and are reported in a manner consistent with the  internal reporting provided to the Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”). The Chief Executive Officer has authority for resource  allocation and assessment of the Company’s performance and is therefore the CODM. For defined benefit pension plans and other post-employment benefits, the net periodic pension expense is actuarially determined on an annual basis by independent actuaries using the projected unit credit method pro-rated on service and management’s best  estimate of expected plan investment performance, salary escalation and retirement ages of employees. The determination of benefit expense requires assumptions such as the expected return on assets available to fund pension  obligations, the discount rate to measure obligations, the projected age of employees upon retirement, the expected rate of future  compensation and the expected mortality rate of pensioners. For the purpose of calculating the expected return on plan assets, the  assets are valued at fair value. Actual results will differ from results, which are estimated based on assumptions. The vested portion  of past service cost arising from plan amendments is recognized immediately in the income statement. The unvested portion is  amortized on a straight-line basis over the average remaining period until the benefits become vested. The asset or liability  recognized in the statement of financial position is the present value of the defined benefit obligation at the balance sheet date less  the fair value of plan assets, together with adjustments for unrecognized past service costs. The present value of the defined benefit  obligation is determined by discounting the estimated future cash outflows using interest rates of high-quality corporate bonds that are denominated in the currency in which the benefits will be paid and that have terms to maturity approximating the terms of  the related pension liability. All actuarial gains and losses that arise in calculating the present value of the defined benefit obligation  and the fair value of plan assets are recognized immediately in the statement of comprehensive income. For funded plans, surpluses  are recognized only to the extent that the surplus is considered recoverable. Recoverability is primarily based on the extent to which  the Company can unilaterally reduce future contributions to the plan. Plan assets are assets that are held by a long-term employee benefit fund or qualifying insurance policies. Plan assets are not  available to the creditors of the Company, nor can they be paid directly to the Company. Fair value is based on market price  information and in the case of quoted securities it is the published bid price. The value of any defined benefit asset recognized is  restricted to the sum of any past service costs and actuarial gains and losses not yet recognized and the present value of any  economic benefits available in the form of refunds from the plan or reductions in the future contributions to the plan.  A defined contribution plan is a post-employment benefit plan under which an entity pays fixed contributions into a separate entity  and will have no legal or constructive obligation to pay further amounts. Obligations for contributions to defined contribution pension  plans are recognized as an employee benefit expense in profit or loss in the periods during which services are rendered by employees.  The Company has a share-based payment plan, which is described in  note 18  and recognizes compensation expense for option awards  using the fair value method of accounting. The Company’s share option plan includes tandem Share Appreciation Rights (“SARs”) to option grants, which allow the employee to  either exercise the share option for shares, or to exercise the tandem SARs and thereby receive the value of the share option in cash.  As this is an option for the holder, the Company applies the cash settled share-based payments rules in its accounting for the plan.  The Company accrues compensation expense with a corresponding increase in liabilities in the amount that represents the fair value  of the amount payable to employees in respect of SARs, over the period that the employees unconditionally become entitled to  payment. The liability is re-measured at each reporting date and at settlement date. Any changes in the fair value of the liability are  recognized as personnel expense in the respective functional area in profit or loss.  When employees exercise their share options for shares, thereby cancelling the tandem SARs, share capital is increased by the sum of the consideration paid by the employee and the liability reversed, with any difference being recorded in income.  (iii) Share-based payments (ii) Defined contribution plans (i) Defined benefit plans  employee future benefitS operating SegmentS 64 HIGH lIneR FooDS InCoRpoRAteD