Traceability: batch identity from reception to dispatch

What traceability means in law

Regulation (EC) 178/2002 makes traceability a condition of operating, not a commercial extra. Article 18 sets the traceability obligation itself; the marking and record-keeping duties described further down this page come from separate hygiene and labelling rules.

• One step back

  The supplier of every incoming batch must be identifiable: which establishment it came from, what it was, and when it arrived.

• One step forward

  The immediate customer of every outgoing consignment must be identifiable. The obligation stops there: each operator in the chain holds its own link.

• Batch identity

  A batch groups product made under conditions treated as uniform. It is the reference that links raw material to carton to consignment.

• Identification mark

  Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) 853/2004 makes approval of the establishment a condition of placing product of animal origin on the market. Annex II, Section I sets what the identification mark must carry: country name or two-letter code, approval number and, within the EU, the abbreviation CE/EC.

The identifiers EU rules require

These are the identifiers required on product of EU origin, and what each one identifies.

Product description and code

Ties the carton to the ordered specification. The catalogue's customs headings — 0203, 0206, 0209 and 0504 — are indicative; the subheading that applies depends on the goods shipped and on the destination tariff.

Batch or lot identifier

The field every later record is searched on. Quote it exactly as printed.

Identification mark

Identifies the approved establishment that last handled the product. It does not identify the batch.

Date marking

Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 requires the date of freezing to be given on frozen meat labelled for the final consumer. What is marked on a bulk carton is a matter for the specification agreed for the destination.

Origin information

Implementing Regulation (EU) 1337/2013 sets the «Reared in» and «Slaughtered in» indications for meat labelled for the final consumer, and permits a single «Origin» indication only where the animal was born, reared and slaughtered in the same country. What a bulk carton must carry is confirmed per destination.

Packing list and health certificate

The packing list connects cartons to the consignment; shipments to third countries travel under the official certificate model the destination requires.

What a buyer can ask for

These are the requests a buyer can send, and the references to include with each one.

• Trace a delivered consignment

  Send the lot identifiers printed on the cartons together with the invoice or consignment reference. Without the lot identifier a delivery generally cannot be matched.

• Check what a code covers

  The catalogue lists 80 coded specifications. Where a technical data sheet has been released for a product, start there when the question is what was supplied rather than which batch.

• Agree records before contracting

  If your own certification or customer commitments require particular records, a particular batch grouping or specific marking, raise them before the order is placed.

• Confirm the document set for a destination

  The documents that travel with a shipment depend on the destination market and on the certificate model that market requires. Send the destination and the product list with your enquiry.

Records that have to support a withdrawal

Article 19 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002 obliges an operator that has reason to believe food it placed on the market does not comply with the food safety requirements to withdraw it and inform the competent authority. Whether that can be done in an orderly way depends on how the records were kept beforehand.

Traceability questions buyers ask

Is a batch the same as a production date?

Not necessarily. A production date is one common way to bound a batch, but a batch is defined by the conditions treated as uniform: product, period and incoming material. Ask how it is defined for the products you buy.

Does traceability reach back to the farm?

Article 18 requires one step back and one step forward from each operator, not the whole chain. Information about the farm sits with operators upstream, and how much of it can travel with a consignment is a point to settle before contracting.

What does the oval mark on an EU meat carton tell me?

It identifies the approved establishment that last handled the product: country name or two-letter code, approval number and the abbreviation CE/EC, as Annex II, Section I of Regulation (EC) 853/2004 requires. It is not a batch reference and not a certification mark.

What do I need to send to have a consignment traced?

The lot identifier printed on the cartons, the product code, and the invoice, packing list or consignment reference. Those three match a request to a specific delivery; without the lot identifier a delivery generally cannot be matched.

Is Trichinella testing part of the batch record?

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1375 places Trichinella controls at slaughter, other than for domestic swine from holdings or compartments officially recognised as applying controlled housing conditions. Where testing is carried out, the result attaches to the carcases covered, not to a later cutting batch.