EU sets out food traceability guidelines

Glasshouse's belief that traceability will be a hot issue in 2005 has gained further credence recently, courtesy of the EU. This article EU sets out food traceability guidelines sets out the human heath and leagal risk issues... It comments: "The drive towards complete supply chain traceability in Europe is inexorable. In addition to the legislation, retail giants are beginning rolling out RFID (radio frequency identification) mandates to all their suppliers. As far as these retail giants are concerned, their primary motivation is building customer loyalty and trust. In driving through these traceability measures down the supply chain, they are putting into place guarantees that if there is ever a recall, then any problem could be contained quickly without losing credibility. And the best way of ensuring this is to ensure that suppliers have full control. This is why retailers, as well as legislators, are leaning heavily on manufacturers to install technology that will guarantee complete traceability." In our view, the product recall dimension is just the tip of the iceberg. The real deal here is to build value-chain integrity. Traceability is a brand value opportunity, not a public health measure.