RESOLUTION CST 1/2007

TRACEABILITY GUIDELINES IN THE VITIVINICULTURAL SECTOR

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

ON A PROPOSAL by the Scientific and Technical Committee, and after having been informed of the works of the 'ad hoc' group on "Traceability and Labelling",

CONSIDERING the importance for the vitivinicultural sector to record and disseminate relevant, correct information about the production, making and distribution of vitivinicultural products,

CONSIDERING that information systems assist transparency in the production process and confidence in the market, from producer to consumer,

CONSIDERING that information systems should be developed with an appropriate balance between necessity, suitability, expected benefits, and costs of implementation,

CONSIDERING that existing works by International Organisations concerning traceability and different national regulations in the vitivinicultural sector should both be guided by similar principles,

CONSIDERING that traceability is one of a number of tools which may be used as appropriate to contribute to food safety and to consumer protection, and to facilitate trade,

DECIDES to adopt the following guidelines as the basis for developing a consistent and harmonised approach to traceability in the vitivinicultural sector, applicable between countries, in accordance with the following Definition, Context and Scope, Objectives and Implementation,

DECIDES that work shall continue, in conjunction with the expert groups and/or Commissions concerned, in order to establish general guidelines for traceability in the vitivinicultural sector for each product.

TRACEABILITY GUIDELINES IN THE VITIVINICULTURAL SECTOR

Definition

Traceability, in the vitivinicultural sector, is defined as the capacity to track and trace vitivinicultural products through all necessary stages of production, making and distribution, by means of recorded information.

Context and Scope

Traceability systems shall be justified namely by:

• food safety, primarily;
• supporting transparency in commercial practices;
• standard requirements,
• sectorial quality standards;
• labelling and consumer information.

Application of traceability systems should be based on an assessment of critical points and risks in the vitivinicultural sector and should be no stricter than necessary.

Application of traceability systems should be effective, practical, technically and economically feasible and proportional to the identified risks.

Given that different traceability systems can produce equivalent outcomes, these systems should reflect outcomes rather than prescriptive specifications. .

Traceability systems should cover only those stages in the production, making and distribution chainsnecessary to achieve the objective.

Objectives

To ensure, throughout the production process, supply chain and the commercial life-cycle of a product, the availability, as appropriate, of key information to the competent authorities, sector operators, distributors, retailers and consumers, regarding:

• the origin and characteristics of the raw materials used in the vitivinicultural process of the product in question;
• the origin and technical specifications of all materials and chemical, biochemical and biological materials and products used;
• the production, processing, packaging, storage and distribution conditions of any product (finished or in production);
• the relevant composition or analytical parameters of each batch of production;
• the identity of the person(s) responsible in a vitivinicultural production, processing or distribution process.

To enable, when necessary, rapid product recall and determine responsibility in the event of a risk for consumers.

Implementation

On the basis of the guidelines in the present document, taking into account the provisions accepted by other international bodies, in particular by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, on the topic of traceability, the OIV will draft specific traceability standards for the vitivinicultural sector.

Traceability systems consist of records and/or documentation and are complemented, if necessary, by samples analysed at critical stages during the production process, supply chain and the commercial life cycle of the product, which have food safety and commercial or economic implications.

Traceability systems should respect and be compatible with all appropriate elements of official national systems controlling the storage, management, and movement of vitivinicultural products.

Traceability systems can be supported by business documentation, labels or other related means.

Conservation and dissemination of information must be done so as to protect the right to confidentiality relating to subjects arising through the various stages so as to protect elements of competitive producer advantage when this does not conflict with other legal obligations.