Three years on from the formation of a steering committee of industry leaders, the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) has made 'tremendous progress' in strengthening traceability across the US fresh produce industry.
That is the verdict of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association (CPMA), the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) and the United Fresh Produce Association (United Fresh), which recommended industry-wide adoption of data standards for identification, tracking and capturing of key information when it first formed.
However, while progress has been made, the PTI Steering Committee admitted in a statement that having heard from a cross section of the industry, some aspects of the PTI are proving more complex than anticipated, and there remains uncertainty in commitment across the industry.
As a result, the board of directors of CPMA, PMA and United Fresh have provided a number of consensus recommendations for the industry.
These include a reaffirmation of commitment to whole-chain traceability through the standardised global data platform of GS1, and a plan to engage with leaders of the retail and foodservice industries to ensure broad commitment and consistent expectation with 'widespread and uniform support'.
Also recommended by the groups are a series of pilot projects in a variety of commodity sectors, and a change from setting 'must comply' dates to 'target goals'.
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