Traceability:Legislation

From TraceFood

From January 1st 2005 the European Commission set into force a new food law (Common food law), and established the European Food Safety Authority. The general principles and requirements of this law are specified in Regulation (EC) No 178/2002. As an instrument to deal with food crises and a rapid increasingly global trade, this regulation has a strong focus on food safety, reduction of food induced health risks, protection of consumers and building up confidence in food and food production.

The Common food law has a stronger chain focus than previous legislation, and this is expressed clearly in its condition No 12; "In order to ensure the safety of food, it is necessary to consider all aspects of the food production chain as a continuum from and including primary production and the production of animal feed up to and including sale or supply of food to the consumer because each element may have a potential impact on food safety".

The ability to carry out recalls of contaminated products is considered as an important functionality in a future food safety regime. This requirement is partly built into 178/2002 by the so called "one-up, one-down approach", where all producers have to document from whom they have received food stuffs and to whom they have sent their products.

Requirements for traceability and product recall are specified in 178/2002 articles 18 and 19. In short, requirements are:

• Traceability shall be established in all stages of production, processing and distribution.
• Food and feed business operators shall be able to identify from whom they have been supplied with a food, a feed or a food related item (one-down traceability).
• Food and feed business operators shall be able to identify to whom their products have been supplied (one-up traceability).
• Procedures and systems for record keeping of "one-up/ one-down traceability" shall be established.
• Products placed on the market shall be adequately labelled or identified to facilitate its traceability.
• Food-stuffs believed or known not to be safe shall immediately be withdrawn by a food business operator. Authorities, consumers and other relevant business parties shall be informed.
• Hence, food manufacturers placing their products on the EU-market, need to implement systems for documentation of traceability, recall routines and adequate labelling or identification of their products.

For food exported to the US, the requirements for documentation and traceability are even more detailed, due to ‘The Bioterrorism Act of 2002’ in effect from August 12th 2004. All food exporters to the US must register in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) database and have a US agent. For every shipment, a prior notice (minimum 2-8 hours before anticipated arrival of shipment, depending on means of transportation) must be sent electronically to the FDA. The prior notice must contain:

• Identification of the submitter, including name, telephone and fax numbers, email address, and firm name and address
• Identification of the transmitter (if different from the submitter), including name, telephone and fax numbers, email address, and firm name and address
• Entry type and CBP identifier
• The identification of the article of food, including complete FDA product code, the common or usual name or market name, the estimated quantity described from the smallest package size to the largest container, and the lot or code numbers or other identifier (if applicable)
• The identification of the manufacturer
• The identification of the grower, if known
• The FDA Country of Production
• The identification of the shipper, except for food imported by international mail
• The country from which the article of food is shipped or, if the food is imported by international mail, the anticipated date of mailing and country from which the food is mailed
• The anticipated arrival information (location, date, and time) or, if the food is imported by international mail, the recipient (name and address)
• The identification of the importer, owner, and ultimate consignee, except for food imported by international mail or trans-shipped through the United States
• The identification of the carrier and mode of transportation, except for food imported by international mail

The data recording requirements set down in the TraceFood framework fulfil all international law known until now. Since TraceFood requires that internal traceability shall be present by linking relations between inbound and dispatched Trade Units, it goes even further than the 178/2002 "one-up, one-down approach". Hence, link between identified contaminated products and their input factors can be accessed, and targeted recalls can be executed.