BOSTON — A new guide for applying traceability standards in the U.S. seafood supply chain was announced Monday by the National Fisheries Institute and GS1 US at the International Boston Seafood Show.
Developed by NFI, GS1 US and U.S. seafood industry companies, “Traceability for Seafood: U.S. Implementation Guide” provides minimum requirements and best-practice recommendations for tracking seafood through the supply chain from farms to processors, suppliers, distributors, retailers and foodservice operators. The 53-page document is free and available at http://bit.ly/fnFCtW.
Contributing organizations include American Seafood, Bumble Bee Foods, Darden Restaurants, Glacier Fish, Gorton’s, Handy International, Icelandic Seafoods, Inland Seafoods, North Carolina State University, Pacific Seafoods, Red Chamber and Trace Register.
“The Traceability Guide reinforces the seafood industry’s commitment to providing our customers and consumers with safe and sustainable seafood,” said Steve Mavity, senior vice president of quality assurance at Bumble Bee foods, in a statement. “It will allow us to leverage GS1 standards to enhance and standardize our product-tracing efforts.”
The seafood guide follows the publication last year of “Traceability for Meat and Poultry: U.S. Implementation Guide,” which covers traceability from the supplier/packer to the retail store.
Created by mpXML, the logistics standards group for meat and poultry, the guide covers the minimum requirements for traceability as well as best practices. The guide is available for free at www.mpxml.org.