Due to the demands of the fruit-buying markets, the producers and sanitary authorities of Argentina implemented a traceability system in 2005 within the framework of the Citrus Export Certification Program to the European Union and other markets. The objective of the Program is to guarantee that the fresh citrus fruit produced in the country complies with the phytosanitary requirements established in the regulations of the European Union and other markets. For this purpose, it is compulsory to adopt certain phytosanitary measures in the successive stages of the crop and regulates the procedure in the packing plants and in port for the destinations with which fresh citrus fruit is sold. After several years of planning and articulation with citrus farms and packing plants, the system is operational. All the crops that leave the farms have complete information about the treatment received, who produced it, where, and the pallets that are shipped from the packing plants have information about the contents of the boxes or containers.
The information system on citrus traceability (SITC) is directly reported from the packing plants. The sanitary authority (SENASA) can control in port, given that the SITC operates in the global network. In this way, importers can know, through free access to the site, who transported, who exported, who dispatched, who produced, in what establishment and from which batch the citrus fruit that was purchased originated.
The information system allows to know the whole process of citrus production, from the field to the final destination, and allows the Argentine fruit to comply visibly with international standards and requirements.
Source: CITRICULTURA, Value chain study