Introduction

In recent years, the global food industry has been rocked with scandals from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, commonly known as mad cow disease) and avian flu scares to melamine-tainted milk. Numerous cases of labeling fraud and fears of deliberate malicious attacks on the food supply make headlines around the world. These cases have increased public wariness regarding food safety in the increasingly complex and globalized food production and trading system. International organizations, governments, and private companies are all facing the necessity of responding to these fears and minimizing further risk to the supply of safe food.

Establishing a food traceability system¹ is one strategy governments and companies can use to win the confidence of consumers and to address the documentation requirements required under multinational and bilateral trade agreements. Clear traceability systems for food are therefore highly beneficial to the food industry and the public sector, as well as to consumers.

The food industry, for its part, has already been developing systems to ensure food safety, including chemical and biological inspection of final products and the introduction of safety control systems, such as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP),² as well as complying to other global standards such as ISO certifications and World Trade Organization (WTO) standards like the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures. These safety control systems are not in themselves traceability systems. However, the implementation of a traceability system can support compliance with safety control system standards. This is because good traceability systems provide reliable product documentation, which is one element required by international safety control standards.

This paper explores the lessons that can be learned from the creation of traceability systems in one of the strictest markets in the world: Japan. Section 2 discusses traceability systems and their effect on exporters from developing countries. Section 3 looks at the evolution of these systems, including the role of governments, buyers, and certification systems, and section 4 goes on to explore how information and communications technology (ICT) is being applied in the creation of Japanese traceability systems. Sections 5 and 6 examine two Japanese case studies, one in Oita Prefecture and the other in Kyoto Prefecture. Finally, section 7 concludes and offers recommendations to developing countries to ensure that they are not marginalized within the global food trading system.

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Comment(s)

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1. Prof. J. George
   (posted 10 June 2009 / 06:30:36 PM)
   
   A good study indeed to keep one updated with the new developments in the area of food safety. The authors have in a short and concise WP givena concise lessons fron the study. They need to be complimented on the effort. The authors must be encouraged to develop this WP into a full blown research paper. However, some comments that must find placein the full paper are as follows: (1) Can these lessons be generalised over different developing countries and production landscape where issues of livelihood and food security are paramount? (2) The public sector certainly needs to play a dominant role and hence the funding quantum and pattern needs a different exclusive treatment to make it more localised. Who will do it? (3) How do we get this traceability into a major concern as in Japan itself only 20% are following/participating in the ITES initiative for traceability.
   (4) Two case study products have certain limitations in other developing countries as they have a different definition of smallholder producer and these two products are not produced on an industrial scale dimensions. What adjustements are required or needs to incorported to the study to make it acceptable/practicable on wider spectrum of developing countries?