The Latest from IFT’s Global Food Traceability Center

The team that makes up IFT’s Global Food Traceability Center (GFTC) works diligently to meaningfully contribute their expertise in shaping public and private efforts that impact traceability and, more broadly, food safety. Until the launch of the GFTC, there was no single entity, public or private, that brought together key stakeholders in the agri-food system to collaborate on providing knowledge and timely assistance on product tracing solutions.

The team is engaged across various arenas and on several projects, all focused on helping address global food traceability challenges and opportunities across the supply chain. Below, you’ll find an update on their latest work:

Research Projects

GFTC recently completed a research project for the David and Lucille Packard Foundation on the costs and benefits distribution in seafood supply chains and parallel commodities, as well as a review of the efficacy and remaining challenges around efforts to increase the equity in benefit distribution.
IFT is working with the Marine Stewardship Council to evaluate the use of the Global Dialogue on Seafood Interoperability Standard v1.1 to create digital efficiencies in the MSC assurance system.

Advocacy Work

Members of IFT’s GFTC team, alongside WWF Philippines, authored and published a research paper in Sustainability Journal titled ‘Overcoming Catch Data Collection Challenges and Traceability Implementation Barriers in a Sustainable, Small-Scale Fishery,’ assessing and reviewing the efficacy of several approaches attempted in a Philippines yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) fishery.

The Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST)

As part of the GDST, IFT’s GFTC team facilitated a technical working group to revise the GDST technical implementation guidance, updated and launched GDST 1.1 standards (first update to the GDST standards since their release in 2020)
Additionally, the team helped to develop and is currently beta testing a tool that looks at the capability of a traceability solution provider to meet GDST requirements.

Events

Bryan Hitchcock, Executive Director of the Global Food Traceability Center, presented “The ABCs of Traceability: Now and the Future” at the NY IFT section. View a recording of the presentation here.
Bryan Hitchcock also moderated a panel at Food Integrity 2022 titled The New Era of Transparency
The IFT team attended Seafood Expo North America where they were part of the GDST booth and involved with the content and preparation for a panel presentation titled The GDST and the “New Normal” for Seafood Traceability
Looking ahead, Blake Harris, GFTC’s Technical Director, will present at both FoodLogiq reconnect and BRGC Food Safety Americas on traceability and supply chain management.