What is TRACEABILITY ?

Traceability is a verifiable method of conducting product identification from the growers through all the steps in the supply chain, to the retailer and customer. Traceability comprises two components, tracking and tracing. Tracking involves monitoring a product and all its inputs through all steps and agents along the supply chain. Tracing is the reverse and involves following a product from any point in the supply chain back to its origin. The E.C. General Food Law defines traceability as “the ability to trace and follow a food, feed, food-producing animal or substance through all stages of production, processing, and distribution.”

The OpsSmart? traceability solution enables all stakeholders within the supply chain, from farmer to consumer, to manage and exchange essential data on safety, quality, and origin for specific products or batches of products.

http://www.foodtraceabilityreport.com/home.asp

FOOD SAFETY REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS

The major driver for food traceability is still the need for large retailers and trading companies to obtain the assurance that their products are safe. This need is being reinforced by a strong regulatory climate throughout the world. These standards are now being expanded from legislation governing food production and importation to include domestic standards for food traceability. Not only are the major markets in the industrialized regions of North America, Europe, and Japan introducing stricter laws on food safety and proof of origin, but many smaller countries are also following this trend. The major legislation and trends in the U.S.A, Europe, and Japan include:

United States of America
Food safety legislation in the U.S.A. received a massive impetus following the attacks of the September 11, 2001. Suddenly the specter of potential acts of food bioterrorism was raised and policies and procedures urgently developed to address this potential threat. As a result, existing legislation on food traceability and safety was strengthened and deadlines for meeting new guidelines brought forward.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration
The Bioterrorism Act of 2002

Title III - Protecting Safety and Security of Food and Drug Supply
Subtitle A - Protection of Food Supply

USDA 2002 Farm Bill
2002 Farm Bill Provision
Country of Origin Labeling

European Union
Before the recent security concerns, the major issue between the U.S.A. and EU was concerned with accepting genetically modified foods and feed. More recently, a revised General Product Safety Directive will impose obligations on food producers and distributors to ensure that food products can be traced back to their point of origin.

The European Commission, Food Safety

General Product Safety Directive (2001/95/EC)

Japan
Like the U.S.A. and the EU, the Japanese government is currently working on several initiatives to restore consumer trust in Japanese food safety. This has come in the wake of a highly critical report on BSE and a spate of food-labeling scandals that have highlighted the lack of transparency and adequate enforcement of Japan’s largely voluntary regulatory system for food production.

Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, Japan
Food Sanitation Law in Japan

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