PFT is a place where entities across the supply chain can come together to create a joint vision for traceability across sectors, in coordination with FDA and state government officials. PFT will ensure that common standards are used and accepted across industries, allowing for streamlined implementation of FDA’s food traceability requirements.
PFT provides:
An industry-defined common vision for traceability across sectors, industries, associations, and consortia.
- For traceability to work effectively and efficiently across industries and sectors, industry must coordinate on overarching agreed-upon strategic and tactical decisions regarding the exchange, gathering, and use of traceability data.
- PFT members will contribute to crafting a joint plan for FSMA 204 compliance and broader migration to enhanced traceability beyond FTL foods.
- For example, PFT will facilitate industry discussions and decision-making to align on key issues such as:
- Whether there should be convergence in the number of barcode types/technologies (e.g., linear barcodes, 2D barcodes, QR codes, RFID) for encoding product.
- Which data elements should be encoded on products.
- Which data elements exchanged between companies are essential to interoperability and therefore need to be standardized, versus which are contextual or optional.
- What level of data accuracy should be anticipated for system validation purposes.
A forum for technical implementation discussions between industry and FDA.
- As a public-private partnership, PFT provides opportunities for industry members to dialogue directly with FDA on:
- Enhanced food traceability requirements.
- Barriers to implementation.
- Charting a long-term plan for compliance that is feasible across industries and sectors.
A consistent set of business and functional requirements for traceability that provides clarity to solution providers and ensures solutions meet business needs
- PFT members will develop and document comprehensive business and functional requirements for electronic traceability while minimizing disruptions to existing workflows. This will include:
- Recommended methods and optimal standards for applying the Traceability Lot Codes.
- Best practices for capturing and exchanging Key Data Elements.
- Executing tracebacks successfully.
- Integrating small businesses that still use paper-based tracing systems.
A coordinating hub for industry pilots that support the advancement of electronic traceability.
- PFT provides a coordination point for industry pilots that support the advancement of electronic traceability. PFT will:
- Consolidate learnings from pilots.
- Ensure learnings are incorporated into best practices and business requirements.
- Support the coordination of new pilots to avoid duplication, fill gaps in existing pilots, and promote consensus.
- Ensure that pilots include regulatory perspectives and inputs, capturing real-world performance expectations.
A resource for educational materials on the requirements of FSMA 204 that members can use to spread awareness.
- PFT members know that successful compliance will rely on a strong and consistent understanding of traceability requirements throughout the supply chain. PFT provides standardized educational materials for members to share with supply chain partners and customers on what foods are regulated by enhanced traceability requirements and which industries must comply.
Committee Work
- defining high-level concepts of traceability (e.g., what is the general vision for how KDEs should be exchanged and managed) to a degree that will enable the work groups to undertake their work in more detail, and
- identifying, categorizing, and prioritizing the issues to be addressed through the Committee and the work groups under it. Work groups will begin work in Q2 2025.