Organic Agriculture, LEISA, and LISA: Some Basic Definitions - Escap

Role of IT in Food Safety &
Traceability Requirements:
Lessons from Japan
Sununtar Setboonsarng
Principal Natural Resources and Agriculture Economist, ADB
High Level Consulation on Agricultural Trade in Asia and the Pacific
25-26 January 2011, UNCC, Bangkok, Thailand

Outline
• Traceability Systems
• Information requirements and role of
ICT
• Case Studies
– Dried Mushroom in Oita Prefecture
– Poultry in Kyoto Prefecture
• Lessons and Recommendations

Traceability Systems
Definition of traceability (ISO 22005:2007):
“The ability to follow the
movement of a feed or food
through specified stage (s)
of production, processing and
distribution”

Food Traceability System
Upstream
Tracking or tracking forward
Producer
Processor
Flow of Agricultural Products
Tracing or tracking back
Wholesaler
Retailer
Downstream
Consumer
Food Traceability Database
Output Information

Traceability Requirements &
Developing Countries
• Exported food must conform to GAP,
GMP and HACCP standards under WTO
• Different importers may have varying
traceability requirements
• Increased burden for producing
countries
• Small-scale farmers are being further
marginalized

Information Requirement
• Requirements for record-keeping &
documentation on food product
• Labeling
• Origin-labeling
• Requirements related to product
removal, recall, and notification

Japan as Case Studies
• Case of Japan
– Strict Market Requirements
– High volume of food importation
– Relatively quick response in public sector
to food safety issues
– Overall high rates of IT adoption
– Small farms with IT adoption gap in rural
areas
– Strong private and public sector
collaboration

Utilization of ICT
ICT-supported key
processes
Identification of
food
Technologies
already used
Stamping
Technologies applied
recently
Printing technology,
Auto identification
Data input
Handwritten or
Manual input
GPS, Sensor
Data Transfer Fax Website, Exchanging
electronic data
Verification Onsite inspection Online database,
examination technology

Examples of ICT used
• Integrated Circuit (IC) tag
• Handheld devices
• Web-based service technology

Traceability System in Supermarket

Information on crops (name & place of production, fertilizers
& chemicals applied, other product specifications )
Information on cultivation & product
Name of farm (producer)
Place of production
Cultivation method
Fertilizer applied
Comments and specifications of products
Name of product
Variety
Chemical applied
Video of farmer
and his farming
practice

Information on producers
My motto
Profile
Name of farm
Name of producer
Address
Phone
Mail address
Home page
Greetings from producer (my policy to produce vegetables)

Tracking information on
delivery history and route
Route of transportation
Time/Date of arrival
Time/Date of departure
Elapsed time

Traceability system in production
& distribution processes

IC chip

Barcode and Tag

Regulations in Japan
• Domestic beef and rice are required to
have traceability systems
• Recordkeeping is not compulsory for
other foods
• Fresh and minimally-processed food
require labels on place of origin

Scheme of Certification and
Distribution of Product
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Registration
Application of registration
Certification
Application of
Certification
Registered Certification Organization
Certification
Application of Certification
Certified Production
Process Manager
Certified Subdivider
•Breeder
•Feeder
•Slaughter
•Process (Block, Meat)
•Retailer
Consumers
Recording, keeping,
publishing or production
information
Attachment of
JAS mark
Publishing information
about production of
subdivided meat in each
animal or each unit
Attachment of
JAS mark
Get product information
by label, internet or FAX

Case Study: Dried shiitake
mushroom in Oita Prefecture
• Fraud in labeling of origin
of products
• Oita Prefecture produces
about 30% of domestic
mushroom
• Packers and District
markets formed a council
to introduce the system

Scope of Traceability System in Oita

Roles of Council
• Managing the ”Made in Oita” symbol
mark and operator ID number
• Auditing place-of-origin labeling
• Publicity
• Respond to inquiries regarding
traceability

Costs of Investment
• Operating system
– $ 10,000
• Hardware and software
– $ 4,000
• Additional labor costs
– 10-15 mins/day
• Management fee for council
– $100/year

Benefits
Increased in price
• Year 2000 : 2,432 yen/kg
• Year 2005 : 3,449 yen/kg
• Year 2007 : 4,000 yen/kg

Case Study: Poultry in Kyoto
Prefecture
• Avian flu caused damaged to
the industry
• Producers, distributors, and
Poultry Safety Promotion
Council of Kyoto Local
Government formed a
Council
• Consumer survey
• Reliability not the details

Scope of System
• Farm
• Slaughtering house
• Processing house
• Retailer

Costs
Production and processing site
• Hardware and software:
$20,000/site
• Running costs: $2,000/yr
– Membership fee $500/yr
– Printing and supply of label $400/yr
– Hardware maintenance fee $500/yr
– Usage fee of software (Mistubishi)
$600/yr
Retail store running cost: $2,000/yr

Benefits
• Feedback shows that consumers are
satisfied with the system
• Sale of poultry resumed
• No price increase to date

Lessons & Recommendations
for Developing Countries
• Traceability Systems is essential in
gaining market access
• Traceability systems promotes
consumer confidence
• Traceability Systems improves business
efficiency throughout the supply-chain
• ICT lead to efficient data management
and access

Lessons
• Private and public sector collaboration is
essential
• Public sector funding is required for ICT
development in agriculture
• Industry association should take a leading
role in establishment of the system
• Extensive consultation of stakeholders along
the supply chain to required to obtain
agreement
• Less extensive IT systems at the farmer level

GMS Core Agriculture Support Program
(CASP)

Vision for the GMS Agriculture
Sector
The Greater Mekong Subregion is
recognized globally as the leading
producer of safe food, using
climate-friendly agricultural
practices and integrated into global
markets through regional economic
corridors.

Vision
The Greater Mekong Subregion is recognized as
the leading producer of safe food,
using climate friendly agricultural practices and
integrated into global markets through regional economic corridors.
Pillar 1:
Food Safety
Trade
Modernization
Pillar 2:
Climate
Friendly
Agriculture
Pillar 3:
Bioenergy and
Biomass
Management
Agricultural Research and Development
Private Sector Involvement
Institutional Mechanisms for Regional Cooperation

Pillar 1: Building Global
Competitiveness by
Promoting Food Safety
•harmonized food safety
standards and system
•paper free trade and IT
traceability systems
•critical mass quality of food and
products
•community-based Participatory
Guarantee Approach (PGA)

Agriculture Information Network
Service (AINS) Program
• Agricultural information exchange
among GMS countries, being
implemented by FECC of PRC
• Expanded agricultural cooperation
• Enhance economic and trade agribusiness
activities

Pillar 2: Pillar 2: Promote Climate-friendly
Agriculture and Natural Resource
Management
• carbon financing for
agriculture
• climate–resilient
farming systems
• weather-based
insurance system
• transboundary
invasive species and
disease control

Pillar 3: Promote Agriculture as Leader in
Providing Rural Renewable Energy
• regional bioenergy
regulatory framework
and harmonized
standards
• biomass for bioenergy
and fertilizers for
carbon credit
• eco-label systems for
market access

Thank you
for your
attention
ssetboonsarng@adb.org