a. Pilot Project- StarFruit, Poultry, Prawns Food Industry

The main aim of this pilot project is to assist StarFruit, Poultry, Prawns Food Industry sector to develop its own computerized food information and traceability system. Assistance by the Project Team to the selected food industry is only possible if a) the selected industry is desirous and committed to establish its own computerized food information and traceability system b) the selected industry is willing to provide the necessary information required by the project team to build up the system.

b. What kinds of information are recommended for the system?

Several different sets of information, which will ensure maximum benefits to the company, are recommended for the development of the company’s food information and traceability system. These are grouped as follows:

1. Information of Company – basic information of the company to enable traceability and promote the company as a supplier of quality and safe food, e.g. name of company, registration number, address, telephone and fax numbers, contact person, quality assurance system in placed, awards or recognition received from different authorities, registration number, date of award of certificates, etc

2. Information on Type of Produce and their Specifications – type of food products produce, specifications of food packaging, types of packaging material, branding, information on labels, etc.

3. Information to Demonstrate Food Quality and Safety, Sustainability and Compliance to Legal Requirements – two types of information are proposed to the industry to demonstrate the compliances

a) Production Process – information on different types of processes carried out by the company to show that the quality food products are manufactured or produced in a safe, environmentally and sustainable way; conforming to known standards such as EurepGAP, HACCP, GMP, ISO 22000, Halal, ISO 9001, SALM, SPLAM, SALT, VHM etc.

b) Supporting Information – additional information that can further demonstrate that the industry is committed and acknowledged to good practices of food production, e.g. analysis of food for food safety, copies of certifications received, compliance to legal requirements of the country and importing countries such as Workers Safety and Health Policy, list of approved chemicals, etc. Additional information, viewed as strategic and important in marketing the company’s food products, can be identified and incorporated into the system.

4. Information on Facilities for Food Production – The types of facilities and technologies used for food production are also useful marketing information that can assure buyers and consumers of the high standard practiced by the company, e.g. adoption of modern and hygienic equipments for production processes, sheltered houses from insects for production of food crops (to avoid usage of chemicals), cold rooms for storage and refrigerated trucks, etc. Additional information, if required by the industry, can be incorporated into the system.

5. Information to Improve Business Operations - The current business operations of the company, particularly involving transactions between its upstream and downstream partners can also be accommodated in the system, which can then be used by the company to track its products. These could include such information as purchases of inputs (e.g. date, product, quantity, price, etc), stocks, sales, delivery order, invoices, payment, etc). Access to this information and other information captured in the system, due to business confidentiality, can be defined and restricted by the company to bona fide clients only, e.g. business partners, auditors of certification bodies, government regulatory bodies, consumers and general public.

6. Information on Immediate Partners - Information on the immediate trading partners on the upstream and downstream parts of the food supply chain is also needed, if the food information and traceability system is to be established. On the upstream, this refers to the suppliers of goods (e.g. prawn or animal feed, chemicals, chickens, or their combinations, etc) while on the downstream side these may be buyers of the produce (e.g. collectors, distributors or in some cases retailers). The types of information required under this category, for both suppliers and buyers, are their names, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, name of contact persons and types of product supplied and sold.

(Note: The information requested above is important since they will help the project team assembled the building block of the company’s food supply chain. Visits to the company’s partner, downstream and upstream, will also be made).

c. Scope and Confidentiality of Information

The type of information to be provided by the company is dependent on the needs of the company. The information however should be sufficient to meet the requirements for food traceability, good practices to allow for product differentiation and compliance to standard, as required by buyers, government regulatory bodies and consumers. The industry, if required, can also defined the confidentiality class of these data; with rights to access given to certain parties only, e.g. the participating industry may want to have some of these data restricted to trading partners only while for others the data may be open to the general public like consumers or government regulatory bodies. The choice belongs to the industry.