ANFACO-CECOPESCA of Spain advocates the digitalization of the traceability system of fishery and aquaculture products to control compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) at all trade stages, from the first sale to the retail.
The business organization maintains that traceability is a key tool, particularly in situations of risk management derived from alerts, and points out that its legal framework is carried out through a complex combination of regulations that have different scopes and objectives.
More than 40 professionals from companies in the food and seafood sector participated in a conference organized by ANFACO-CECOPESCA in which the challenges of traceability in the digital environment were analyzed.
This event matches the start of the revision of the fisheries control regulation, with the intention of assessing its effectiveness and implementation level in the Member States of the European Union (EU).
During the presentations, the need to work on these lines of action was highlighted:
Verify that the EEMs are making a homogeneous implementation of the legal framework, and analyze the difficulties for its implementation in the chain from the sea to the table.
Clarify basic definitions and provisions, including the objective of traceability and its use (purposes of market control vs. information for consumers).
Implement the digitalization of the system to control the implementation of the rules of the CFP in all stages of the commercialization of the products of fishing and aquaculture, from the first sale to the retail sale, including transport.
Analyze the operability of the traceability management system and its interoperability with all planned or existing systems, remembering that costs are still supported by the supply chain and transmitted to consumers in the price structure.
Assess the role of the chain of custody to ensure consumers, customers, authorities, etc., the origin and traceability of the products that are being used or consumed, becoming a hallmark or guarantee of the integrity of the product throughout of all the stages that belong to the chain of custody.
Analyze the “state of the gear” of technological solutions for the implementation of traceability In terms of innovation, digitization, the optimal management of its own information as well as that of suppliers and customers, as well as the effective implementation of ICT platforms and technologies are some of the fundamental axes of Industry 4.0, where traceability is also a fundamental field of application. In the Conference a case study was presented developed within the framework of the Holoplus project, for the integral management of information from ship to the end of the productive process.
It should be noted that industries located in the EU are subject to exhaustive surveillance and control in order to verify compliance with the hygienic-sanitary conditions of both processes and facilities by the competent authorities.
ANFACO-CECOPESCA is firmly committed through the Traceability Observatory, created under the umbrella of the Cluster Conservation of Seafood Products, for that purpose.
The objective of the Traceability Observatory is to promote regulatory compliance by all the operators that participate in the community market for canned tuna, under the slogan “level playing field”, since such compliance is a fundamental tool to guarantee fair competition, margin to guarantee food security, sustainability of resources and respect for human and labour rights.The canning employers stress that traceability should be understood as a guiding principle in responsible management, so that the events that have just taken place are aimed at raising awareness and highlighting the importance of complying with Community regulations.
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