Agricultural Traceability Roundtable (Los Angeles, US)
What is the cost of doing nothing?
Last week, we hosted a lively roundtable on agricultural traceability in Los Angeles, uniting industry leaders from Australia and the US across sectors like red meat, seafood, citrus, fashion, and traceability tech.
Traceability- the ability to track and trace products- plays a crucial role in ensuring food safety and enhancing brand storytelling. It boosts supply chain transparency and efficiency, helps businesses meet regulatory requirements, builds consumer trust, and addresses sustainability challenges.
It became evident during the discussions that Australia’s enhanced traceability systems have helped Australian exporters be more competitive in the US market, where strict standards are highly valued.
Doing nothing on traceability, however, could mean losing market share, and diminishing the Australian brand.
The discussion highlighted that:
- Mapping of and engagement with stakeholders are crucial first steps in establishing good traceability systems and maybe a basis for cost-sharing efforts
- The narrative must focus on how traceability enhances supply chain efficiency and offers longer-term benefits to encourage adoption, especially in sectors that may be slower to adopt these systems without government pressure
- Interoperability remains a challenge, which if addressed could help reduce costs, and help better manage risks, but will require coordinated effort among supply chain partners
- ESG initiatives are being pursued, but traceability should be incorporated in these efforts to ensure they are meaningful and monetised by producers
- Effective data management can identify operational efficiencies and enhance supply chain performance, leading to cost savings and increased productivity
- Leveraging technology to streamline data processes will be vital in achieving these outcomes
- Ongoing education and advocacy are key to showcase traceability’s value in brand storytelling, consumer trust, and market access while encouraging clear, standardised regulations that foster compliance and growth
We’re excited to continue discussions with participants and industry leaders on advancing traceability systems between Australia and the US.
Thank you to Matthew Worrell, Minister-Counsellor for Agriculture in Washington, for his opening remarks, and to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry for creating this opportunity to engage with key trading partners on agricultural traceability.
Thank you to the Meat Import Council of America (MICA) for partnering with us on this initiative.
