The Packer | October 15, 2007

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Argentina could teach U.S. on traceability

In response to having its apple exports shut out of Brazil in 2002 because of phytosanitary concerns, Argentina has developed and implemented a unified traceability system that surpasses that of the U.S., according to a workshop panel at the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit 2007 in Houston.

Gary Fleming, vice president of industry technology and standards for the Newark, Del.-based PMA, moderated the Oct. 12 workshop, which was called “Traceability: A Choice or a Necessity?”

Argentina’s system works so well because — unlike that in the U.S. — it is mandated and standardized and because it identifies product down to the pallet and case level, Fleming said.

The Argentine system was developed in consultation with the government and the nation’s agriculture industry by the Fundación Barrera Zoofitosanitaria Patagónica, or FunBaPa, an Argentian foundation that addresses phytosanitary issues, Fleming said. The system also is used to help ensure food safety.

True traceability results in quick access to all product modification details both up and down the entire supply chain from any given point, said panelist Jorge Aragon, postharvest and quality manager for Kleppe SA, Cipoletti, Argentina, a grower, packer and exporter of apples and pears.

His company applies bar code labels to every pallet and every carton, he said, and its system identifies the lot and orchard as well as the packer and the retail destination. It also contains information about the washing of the product and its weight.

Lots are handled separately, and each carton bears a unique serial number, he said.

Such information allows the company to monitor productivity and assure quality in real time, Aragon said.

As Argentina has shown, it isn’t enough to have traceability capability merely within an individual company, Fleming said. To accomplish this, identification information must be unique to each pallet and case and must be recognizable to the industry.

The traceback information needs to be stored electronically and accessible all along the supply chain because if it’s just printed on a case a shipper loses it once it leaves a facility, and a retailer loses it once the carton is unpacked and thrown away, Fleming said. Buyers must read and store that information, he said.

PMA and the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, Ottawa, conducted a survey over the summer in which 84% of growers and shippers said they have a traceability program in that allows them to track one step up and one step down the supply chain. But 60% of those don’t use a company prefix issued by GS1, the global standards organization based in Princeton, N.J.

The prefix uniquely identifies a company in a way that is recognizable worldwide, much like a Social Security number in the U.S., Fleming said.

Of the 67% of growers with a traceability program, 33% do not use any number on pallets, he said.

“Of those that do use a number, only 1% use a standard, industry-recognized number. That means 99% of those that use a number are using something proprietary that means absolutely nothing to the next member in the supply chain.”

By Charlie Giddley

Publicated in October 15, 2007, The Packer