Page 24 - Food&Drink Magazine October 2021

DAIRY BUSINESS
Transparency down the line
National traceability guidelines have been developed for the dairy industry, to improve supply chain transparency and reduce industry power imbalances.
THE release of the Australian Dairy Traceability Guidelines are part of the Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) Blockchain and Traceability Framework.
Released by federal liberal senator Susan McDonald, they are based on specialist technical advice from GS1 Australia, as well as a series of industry supply chain workshops and validation with a global food company.
ADF president Terry says the guidelines are important to dairy farmers and the industry as a whole, and will build transparency of information flow through the supply chain.
“This is critical to address thepower imbalances identified in dairy inquiries by the ACCC and the Senate’s Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee,” Richardson says.
“Trust is the foundation on which supply chain participants – from farm to shopping basket – rely. Traceability underpins trust.Itenablesustoprovide
assurances about what we produce, process, and sell,” he adds.
GS1 traceability standards will provide a common approach for Australian dairy to identify and track product as it moves through the supply chain, capturing and sharing information of relevance to producers, transporters, manufacturers, retailers, exporters and government.
Richardson says the common language for traceability, which is used in the guideline, will help improve communication across industry.
“It puts everyone on the same page and in doing so it increases efficiency across the value chain. It will help everyone in the sector implement traceability and improve safety and market access,” he says.
GS1 Australia CEO Maria Palazzolo commended the government on the work it is doing to build capacity and foster innovation within Australianagriculturalsupply
chains and with primary producers.
“These guidelines complement the National Freight Data Hub led by the Department of Infrastructure, given both initiatives are based on the same underlying global
our costs to compete more aggressively in local and global markets.
“Without open, transparent and secure information systems in our value chain, Australia’s dairy farmers, processors, and exporters will be competing on
“ Without open, transparent and secure information systems in our value chain, Australia’s dairy farmers, processors, and exporters will be competing on world markets with one arm behind their back.”
data standards for supply chains. The guideline also supports federal government initiatives to simplify trade systems via export regulatory reform and a more automated exchange of trade documents,” Palazzolo says.
“Openly sharing information also helps industry to protect our clean, green and safe food image,and,importantly,reduce
world markets with one arm behind their back. The industry will be strengthened by the implementation of these standards,” Richardson says.
The guidelines are designed to increase resilience in the dairy supply chain through greater availability and use of data, ensuring improved food safety, product quality and supplystability. ✷
24 | Food&Drink business | October 2021