Dutch fruit and vegetable growers are set to adopt the International GS1 standard for electronic data exchange this year.

This is the same system already in use in the retail trade and, in the event of supply chain calamities, it means intervention can be made more quickly.

The Dutch Produce Association (DPA), which represents 98 per cent of Dutch fruit and vegetable production, announced on Monday that, as of October 1, pallet labels and packing notes will be printed according to the GS1 standard. On July 1, they intend to start with the system for pallet labels.

The DPA is one of the partners in Frug I Com, a platform that has been working on standardising data exchange in the fruit and vegetable supply chain since 2003. Chairman Tom den Hertog calls this growers’ initiative “a great advance”. He said: “It challenges traders, processors and importers to make hard and fast agreements about taking the next step.”

A pallet label generated according to the GS1 standard contains five text fields and three bar codes. Together, they provide all imaginable information about the product. Uniform labelling will enable each link in the chain to access full information about shipments at any required moment.

The introduction of GS1 means growers will also have to comply with the requirements of the General Food Law.

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