GTP:Authority view
From TraceFood
Contents |
INTRODUCTION-PUBLIC AUTHORITY VIEW
For an interactive demonstration see foodtraceability.eu
This view should be of interest to anyone who is working as part of a public authority or who is interested in the views of a public authority. This view is dedicated to those who are in charge of guaranteeing public health, be it through their function as health authority or through their safeguard function as an NGO.
OPINIONS/FACTS
Public health and food safety
- Introduction to the concept of chain traceability and its potential impact on public health and other areas such as sustainability.
- The particular challenges of the food industry with respect to traceability with special mention of the SME point of view.
- The services (also at the border of the EU) that could be offered if there was an internationally accepted standard for traceability information exchange.
Which laws and regulations are requiring traceability?
The main legal requirement within the EU (and all countries who wish to import into the EU) is the so called 'one up one down' regulations which require business to keep records regarding who they have received goods from and who they have delivered them to.
Individual sectors such as the Beef industry also have their own particular regulations including measure such as 'cattle passports'
How can traceability be used to enforce and monitor authority requirements?
The authority has the function to ensure the safe production of food. There is a fine balance between controlling and ensuring the safe production of food. In any case, however, the administration needs to be in a position to actively manage food crisis and perhaps even control some aspects of the food production (such as animal movement). On the other hand, the public authority doesn't want to burden the food industry too much in order not to jeopardise their competetivity. In addition there are things like the efficiency of border control, fraud protection and other things that have an impact on the food industry that goes beyond the simple interests of a company or a group of companies.
Improving effectiveness of data exchange will allow companies to more easily communicate with regulatory authorities. In addition it is thought that greater ability to check the authenticity of the goods which are supplied will deter fraudulent traders.
What can traceability be used for?
Traceability can be used to support and aid public authorities in many ways.Some examples are;
- Monitoring of export/import, for example documentation of the origin of fish products that they are legal caught from a sustainable fishery.
- Sales and tax
- Food safety, in the event of a food safety incident the depth and precision of a traceability system will be decisive in the time and cost taken to identify the source and take appropriate action. It may also be decisive in limiting the impact upon a specific food sector which in turn will be a cost saving for regulatory authorities.
What do I need to think about?
Public authorities need to be aware that the depth of traceability will raise numerous issues related to privacy, how much should external authorities be able to monitor inside a company?
How will compies react to being oberved? How much information will companies be prepared to make available to public authorities?
WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK
| What other people think | |
| Consumers | Consumers will expect public authority to ensure that the food they eat is safe. Consumers will expect that the food has been quality controlled by all actors involved in food production and management, and that this is monitored and enforced by the authorities. Further, the consumers expect that the public authority will provide measures to prevent food scares and in case of food scares, reduce and eliminate the causes and effects. Go to actor. |
| Operational | Public authorities will expect that traceability information will be made available to them. Actors responsible for operations may not necessarily feel that it is appropriate to give them access to all information. Operators would expect that the laws and regulations enforced also applies for their trading partners, competitors and other actors in the market. The operators would require that sensitive information exposed to the authorities will be managed in a secure and reliable way. Go to actor. |
| Supply chain | As with the operational level, public authorities will expect that traceability will enable them to have better overview over movements of food stuffs within the supply chain. However, actors responsible for operations may not necessarily feel that it is appropriate to give access to all information. The supply chain in such, will not be a legal entity that needs to answer to authorities, but every actor will have separate roles (see operational view). Go to actor. |
| Quality Assurance | Quality assurance actors would expect that the authorities provide and enforce laws and regulations that can be used to ensure a continued quality in the food chains. Traceability can be used to monitor and document quality both towards the authorities and between the different actors in the food value chains. Go to actor. |
| ICT | ICT actors will be interested in how they might best fulfill both companies and public authorities requirements. ICT needs to balance the schism between the authorities requirements of transparency related to food production and management, and the need for operator privacy. This must be solved through security solutions when communicating and sharing information. Go to actor. |
FURTHER READING AND TRAINING MATERIAL
Presentations
- Emergency preparedness test in Norwegian fish distribution chains (2005) PDF
- Simulated recalls of fish products in five Nordic countries (2008) PDF
- Traceability drivers in the fish supply chain (2002) PDF
Legislation
If you want to read more about the regulations regarding traceability that exist currently you might want to take a look at the following sources,
- EU. EC General Food Law Regulation 178/2002. European Community ed. 178/2002, 2002.
- EU. EC General Food Law Regulation 178/2002 : Guidance Notes on the Food Safety Act 1990 (Amendment) Regulations 2004 and the General Food Regulations 2004. European Community ed. 178/2002, 2004.
- Sørensen, Carl-Fredrik, Bjørnson, Finn Olav and Forås, Eskil. Practical and technological challenges for introduction of electronic traceability systems related to IUU, SINTEF Fisheries and aquaculture, Trondheim, 2008. [pdf]
What other public authority initiatives exist around the world?
Around the world many public authorities are taking stance on traceability. In some countries they have attempted traceability across all food sectors and in other the aims are to cover individual sectors which are particularly important for export, the beef industry for example.
A good place to read some more about traceability initiatives from many different perspective is the book 'Food Traceability Around the World' edited by I.G. Smith and A Furness.
We have included a list of links with a short description regarding the web pages. Many countries are beginning or improving cross sector traceability initiatives and there are still many differences, including how much is legally enforced and how much is voluntary, what type of identifications are used and how much is kept internally and how much is made available to public authorities. If you want to read more about these in detail you can follow some of the links below
- In Norway there is a national initiative to implement electronic traceability throughout all food supply chains by 2010. You can read more about this at eSporing
- In Canada they have also attempted to implement a cross sector traceability system, more information can be found at, [1]
In many countries cattle and other live stock have been the primary focus of identification systems for the public authorities this is due to the emphasis on food safety rather than competitive advantage. Some examples and information regarding this come from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and the USA.
- United Kingdom [2]
- Australia [5]
- USA [6]
