Abstract

Nowadays traceability systems are an inseparable part of international business and are essential in manufacturing and supply chain management systems. The advantages of the traceability system are more obvious for products that are exported and those imported from overseas. Traceability is highly important in food management and for products with short expiry. In recent years there have been several investigations and publications on traceability systems criteria especially in the food industry in the US, Europe and Southeast Asia. Figure 1 illustrates the general idea of a tracking system. Based on the International Standard Organisation (ISO), traceability is defined as the “ability to trace the history, application, or location of that which is under consideration”. In more detail, traceability is the capability to authenticate the production history, pricing structure, positioning and location, application and all the other information of an object, by means of documented data. In the other words, traceability refers to the ability to track the object through the supply chain management from raw materials supplier to the end user, and also tracking the product after it has been used through the recycling process.