1. Competitiveness of Indian Agriculture
Capacity Building Programme on International Trade towards enhancement of
Competitiveness of Indian Agriculture
5th-9th September, 2011
IIFT,New Delhi, India
_____________
Sudhanshu
Deputy General Manager, APEDA,
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
&
Vice President, GS1 India
Traceability and
Traceability initiatives
by APEDA

2. What is traceability in general ?
Ability to trace the history, use or location of an entity by means of recorded information
Ability to follow the movement of food through specified stages of production, processing and distribution

3. Traceability as per Codex
Ability to follow the movement of food through specified stages of production, processing and distribution.”
Codex Alimentarius Commission

4. Traceability as per ISO 8402
Ability to trace the history, application or location of an entity by means of recorded identifications
Ability to clearly specify the requirements i.e. Period of time, point of origin and identification

5. What traceability implies ?
Traceability may or may not be required or may begin at a certain point within the production chain or may end at a point before the end of the chain .
Traceability may relate to :
a) The origin of materials including raw materials
b) The product processing history
c) The distribution and location of the product after delivery

6. Why traceability is required ?
Food safety and traceability is becoming concern of importing countries
Due to increasing consumer awareness about food safety aspects, such tools are required

7. Traceability Drivers- Stringent Regulatory/buyer requirements
Demanding regulations:
US FDA’s speed related traceability requirement – 4 hrs. one up / one back reqmts.
EU Food Law (178/2002 –General Principles and reqmts of European Food Law)
U.S. Bioterrorism Act (2002)
ISO 22005: 2007
HACCP (ISO 22000:205)
BRC (British Retail Consortium), IFS (Int’l Food Std – German/French distribution cos)
SQF (US Food Marketing Institute)
Can-Trace (Canadian Food Law)
Food Sanitation Law (Japan)
HR 2749 – The Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 7

8. Traceability Drivers- Consumer concerns and needs
Is this healthy?
Does it contain peanuts or other allergens?
Is the packaging recyclable?
Are the employees treated well and paid fairly?
Does this company act responsibly toward shareholders?
Is the farming and harvesting done in a sustainable fashion?
Could I get this less expensively?
They ask themselves
many questions
before making a purchase.
Today's consumers are informed and aware.
Was this grown organically?
Do they test their products on animals? 8

9. Rationale & Objective of Traceability
Human health and safety
Other non health consumer interest like, quality or to ascertain the genuineness of a particular declaration like “Organic” nature of food product
Fair practices in food trade

10. Limitations - Traceability
In countries where the produce/ product raw material, ingredients and components are produced by SMEs or procured through the market systems in smaller volumes, the backward identification of the product becomes quite difficult

11. Limitations - Traceability
The countries having small farm holdings, there the marketable volumes are built up at the collection centers before being taken to a pack house or processing centre. In such case, traceability is possible only up to the stage of packhouse or processing center and not up to the primary level in normal course.

12. What approach is required ?
Firstly, evolve national procedures & policies for Quality & Product Standardization, co-opting all stakeholders in the supply chain from Public and Private sector, for each product
Secondly, put in place the Standards & Agencies
Thirdly, build centralized, national level, internet based, traceability system, with low cost of ownership for large number of farmers & entrepreneurs

13. Final outcome - Traceability
Provides a tool for the establishment of product authenticity, reliability, identification of the problem areas for the purposes of tracking and product recall

14. Ideal Traceability

15. Recent outbreak of E.Coli in Germany
The issue began in the second week of May .
More than 10,000 samples were taken and analyzed and E.Coli could not be detected and confirmed
On 5th July , the case was closed after identification of the food and the source of infection
The learning from the investigation was that the only way out is to intensify the investigation on tracing back and tracing forward

16. Traceability Drivers
E.Coli contaminated spinach recall...
...became a criminal investigation
Then it spread to lettuce
China Milk Recall
Lack of traceability exposes food companies to huge risks 16

17. Traceability Drivers U.S. – Toys Recall
Recall of 9.5 million toys in US and 11 million in others countries.
Europe – Belgium- Coca Cola Recall
5 months to recover the sales
249 cases of illnesses in Belgium
Recall of 15 million cans and bottles
Crisis cost $200 million in expenses and lost profit

18. 67% of Food Companies with $5 B or More in Sales had Recalls that Cost $20 M
Source: AMR Research 18

19. Source: AMR Research 19

20. Connection between traceability and recalls
Traceability system provides:
Visibility to location of food products/consignments in Supply Chain
Unique identification of each player in Supply Chain (raw matls supplier to finished products mfgr to intermediate distribution chain partners to retailer)
Unique identification of products/consignments and qty held in Supply Chain and by whom
“Accurate, timely and fast recalls can only be effected if traceability systems which provide accurate product identification, partner identification and location of products/ consignments at all times are in place”
Recall is a use case of traceability 20

21. Command and Control – national Recall situation Map
Shows GLN (ship to) locations and quantities at Recall Release Time – shows highest quantities shipped to GA 21

22. Command and Control – global recall situation Map22

23. Command and Control – Recall TV and Webinar23

24. Traceability - APEDA initiatives

25. APEDA’s GrapeNet
A traceability System for Fresh Grapes Exported from India to EU
a pilot for promoting exports in Indian Agriculture Sector 25 25

26. Grapes Scenario in India
Grapes is among the Top Ten Fruits of India, in terms of production
1.6 million metric tons produced, majority in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka
40000 plus farmers
100 plus exporters
India is the 12th largest producer in the world, but among the highest in terms of productivity per hectare

27. Grape Growing States
Maharashtra
Andhra Pradesh
Karnataka

28. What was done before GrapeNet ?
Registration, record keeping & monitoring of farms
Product standardization & inspection strengthened
Implementation of Good Agricultural Practices
Exports only from recognized pack-houses
Pesticide Residue analysis by ISO-17025
NABL compliance labs.
Setting up of NRL for periodic checks and alerts
Regular training programs for all concerned

29. GrapeNet Initiative
Direct stakeholders of APEDA are Exporters, Pack houses / processing plants, Laboratories & State Government Departments
Farmers are indirect stake holders, through State Agriculture / Horticulture departments
APEDA maintains and continues to offer more and more services through its website as a virtual office available 24 * 7
APEDA
Exporters
Pack houses
Processing units
Labs
Other Agencies
State Government
Farmers
Reaching out to Farmers, Pack houses, Shelling Units, processing units, etc., hitherto poor users of ICT / Internet , to introduce transparency in information flow, regulation and monitoring & improvement in efficiency

30. APEDA’s Implementation
STAGE I: a Government of India regulation - Regulation of Export of Fresh Grapes from India through monitoring of pesticide residues.
Standards to meet international market demands
Agencies to test compliance with these standards
And no export of fresh grapes can happen to European Union without adhering to this system.
STAGE II: IT enable the regulation, compliance and monitoring
integrating all the stakeholders in the supply chain of Grapes export from India, with a centralized database.

31. GrapeNet: Functions 31

32. Grapenet: Introduction
Grapenet features
An internet based traceability software system
Monitors fresh grapes exported to the European Union upto the farm level.
Direct stakeholders of APEDA are Exporters, Pack houses / processing plants, Laboratories & State Government Departments
Farmers are indirect stake holders, through State Agriculture / Horticulture departments
An end-to-end system for
monitoring pesticide residue,
achieve product standardization and
facilitate tracing back from retail shelves to the farm of the Indian grower,
through the various stages of sampling, testing, certification and packing. 32 32

33. GrapeNet at www.apeda.com33 33

34. Phytosanitary Certificate (PSC) number
S(MAH)2/GR/0000

35. S(MAH)2/GR/0000

36. Agmark Certificate Number
GEO/GR/09/0000

37. GEO/GR/09/0000

38. Agmark Inspection Report ID

40. Residure Analysis Report
2/01335/02/0900

41. MH
2/01335/02/0900

42. Residue Analysis ReportMH

43. MH

45. Authorised Packer

48. Exporter

50. Traceability at display
Traceability through labels pasted on Pallets/Cartons
Pasted in barcode as well as Human readable format
Leads to the Plots from where Grapes have been sourced
GrapeNet – a live preview 50

51. Results achieved
Every consignment of fresh grapes during the last season from India to European Union was monitored through this system and no consignment was rejected due to quality reasons.
The export of fresh grapes from India to European Union increased by 100% plus in the last year.
The per unit realization for exporters directly and farmers indirectly went up from previous years due to the stringent standards defined and monitored in the grapes sector in India.

52. Growth in Export of Fresh Grapes from India(Up to 2009)
Qty: ‘000 Mts
Value: Million Dollars
Quantity and Value

53. Why exports came down in 2009-10 and 2010-11 ?
Due to finding of a plant growth regulator CCC in grapes consignment , the containers were put on hold by the importers that affected the exports.
But the traceability system enabled us to immediately cease the problem after getting the information.

54. Major gains Self confidence among farmers
Culture for food quality and safety
Farmers earned 40% more value
Benefits went to 40,000 farmers and 115 exporters
FOB realization rose from 8 Euro to 11.5 Euro per carton of 3 kg.
Value – addition through improved packaging
EU labs accepted that Indian labs are better

55. Grapes Supply Chain Improvements
Increased implementation of GAP
Value addition through consumer packs
Grading as per export standards
Absolute efficiency of laboratories
Traceability throughout the supply chain
Zero paper-work & total accountability

56. National Award for E- Governance (Year 2008) E Asia Award (Year 2009)
Accolades - GrapeNet
National Award for E- Governance (Year 2008)
E Asia Award (Year 2009)

57. Further Developments
Success in grapes sector encouraged to replicate and set up traceability system for :
Pomegranates (AnarNet)
Organic products (TraceNet)- 1st Traceablity system in the world implemented at national level ( 5 lac+ farmers registered )
Peanuts (Peanut.Net)
All fruits & Vegetables (HortiNet – Under development)