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China has strengthened the source supervision of imported frozen foods[1] ever since the positive testing of Coronavirus found on a chopping board[2] used to cut imported salmon in June 2020, and other similar cases that followed. To prevent and control the Covid-19, on October 22, NHC department (China's National Health Commission) released two technical guidelines[3] to govern the production and operation process of foods subject to cold chain* management. It indicated that food enterprises should reinforce the source control and guarantee the traceability of foods.
*Cold chain: the whole sequence of a temperature-controlled supply chain, comprising preparation, packaging, storage, distribution, retail holding, display, purchase and home storage till use. It applies to chilled or frozen food from raw material to final consumption. (Definition from Facts[4])
On October 27, 2020, Beijing SAMR (State Administration for Market Regulation), together with Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, disclosed a notice[5] that required the mandatory upload of food traceability data of chilled/frozen meat and aquatic products as of November 1, 2020.
Details of the Food Traceability Requirements in Beijing
According to the notice released by Beijing SAMR, operators of imported foods (hereinafter chilled/frozen meat and aquatic products) in Beijing shall complete the registration on and upload traceability data to Beijing's traceability platform, which is called "Beijing Cold Chain[6]." For enterprises that have had their traceability systems, they should export data to the platform as well.
The first step required for food importers in Beijing is to bear the responsibility for uploading traceability data to the platform. This data includes:
Food classification
Specifications,
Batch,
Place of origin
Inspection and Quarantine information, etc.
After the platform generates the e-traceability code automatically, importers should attach the code to food packages. Then, during the circulation process, all involved businesses at each link can upload follow-up data easily by scanning the code. Finally, food sellers should stick the E-traceability code on food packages or counters for consumers to scan the product information.
For foods without the traceability data, they are forbidden to enter the market circulation process.
Outlook on the Construction of a Food Traceability System in China
In China, the government has been making an effort to accelerate the construction of a traceability system. At present, there are many pilot programs [7] conducted on major important food products in specific regions or large enterprises. In Oct 2019, China issued six recommended national standards[8] related to the traceability. In March 2020, a general technical requirement for two-dimensional code of food traceability[9] was published. But few enterprises in China pay attention to the traceability system construction, due to the difficulties in the actual implementation, low level of standardization, high cost, etc.
However, ChemLinked believes that the Covid-19 outbreak and the positive detection of Covid-19 on food packages, although a threat to the public, will be an opportunity to speed up the development of the food traceability industry in China.
First of all, it goes with the direction of the government and industry needs. Under the context of this global pandemic period, we saw that the government has been stepping up efforts on the utility of food traceability system. Before the measures implemented by Beijing, Zhejiang province[10] also launched a traceability system for imported foods subject to the cold chain management in June this year. The development of the Zhejiang system is based on the blockchain technology provided by Ant Financial. By taking advantage of this system, Zhejiang SAMR will close down the circulation of foods which are with suspicious origins, incomplete licenses, etc. For the long term perspective, a well-organized food traceability system will also benefit food safety management and market supervision of the industry. During China's Two Sessions[11] this year, a deputy also proposed to change a part of recommended national standards into mandatory ones at a proper time.
Second, the pandemic has also aroused people's awareness of health, food safety and quality. As such, it is an opportunity for enterprises to obtain consumers' trust by providing reliable and specified traceability data (Click here[12] to find more information about how to use traceability as a marketing tool). Third, enterprises and third-party traceability agencies are now playing an important role. New entrants of e-commerce platforms and large businesses like Ant Financial give the possibility to quicken the industry development and solve the industry pain points. For example, one of the biggest difficulties of food traceability lies in the failure of accurate data collection to track the food from farm to fork.
Due to this situation, ChemLinked has invited the CTO of Optel Group, Florent Bouguin and Louis-Olivier Roy of Business Development at Optel Group to give a free webinar to help our clients learn how to choose the right traceability solution for products and learn about every step of the journey to deploy reliable traceability in a cross-border supply chain.
*Founded more than 30 years ago, OPTEL is a global leader in traceability technology. OPTEL's traceability platform has the ability to trace back items on a granular level and helps bring transparency to brands across the world, including to many top 500 companies.
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