Study On Management Mode Of Traceability Of Agro-Food Quality And Safety In China

In recent years, safety and quality of agro-products in China has increasingly become a huge concern that could possibly affect people’s health. How to ensure a safe agro-product supply is a hot topic and difficult problem. Implementation of traceability system for agro-products is not only the trend of food safety management globally but an indispensible requirement for China to solve the quality and safety problem. Traceability system for agro-products is in its infantry in China and current operating ones are still immature to fulfill the needs to control the quality and safety problem under the new situation. Therefore, this study selected the mode of traceability management for agro-products as the target and systematically analyzed the content and principles of traceability management for agro-products based on the theories of information asymmetry, risk analysis, agro-product supply chain management and government regulation. Meanwhile, through questionnaires and surveys, positive analysis has been conducted to probe into the development and existing problems in the establishment of traceability systems as well as major affecting factors that lay in the implementation of traceability management driven by government. Comparative analysis has also been conducted on different and typical traceability management modes internationally, from which successful deeds have been summarized and referred in designing new traceability mode for China. On top of that, considering the exterior development environment and realistic demands, a brand new mode of traceability management for agro-product quality and safety has been designed and successfully build-in and applied in Xiamen municipal project for traceability management establishment. Finally, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) has been applied to build up the performance evaluation index system for traceability management, with which the performances of four typical operating traceability management modes have been given a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation.Five conclusions were obtained through the above analysis:1. Information asymmetry is the root cause for agro-products quality and safety problems. Traceability management can increase the transparency among different segments along the supply chain, which is conducive to solve the problem.2. Extensive production and decentralized operation are two of the most obvious features of agro-product industry in China and this situation will remain the same in a relatively long period. Given the limited administrative resources and shortage in supervision measures, implementation of traceability management can beef up the administrative capacity and promote the quality and safety level of agro-products.3. Traceability management in developed countries is established on the laws and regulations, which involves compulsory requests and voluntary intentions. Through strengthening the market access control, enterprises in the food chain would actively meet and act in line with the traceability standards. However, in China, the traceability pilot programs promoted by government are generally poor in compatibility and can hardly sustain in the long run. Positive analysis indicates that major affecting factors deterring this implementation include the industrial level, specific unit, supporting project and standardized level etc.4. A brand new mode of traceability management that incorporates standardized production, normalized control, brand-building marketing and information-oriented service has been designed, which is wide in coverage, easy in use, low in cost, easy to join and long lasting. Steered by the market demand, this mode puts in place differentiated measures, establishes information disclosure and dynamic evaluation mechanism to achieve the sustainable development in traceability management.5. The performance evaluation index for traceability management is consisted of six parts, namely, main body participation, identification management, process record, platform establishment, administration and comprehensive benefits. Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation has been applied to assess four typical operating traceability management modes. Results showed that mode used in Xiamen was quite good, mode for agricultural reclamation was acceptable and modes for animal as well as vegetable products were less good.