Valtiero Mazzotti, CSO President, Italy : "E-Fruitrace", an European project to manage traceability

Valtiero Mazzotti, CSO President, Italy : "E-Fruitrace", an European project to manage traceability CSO is a company supplying services for Italian fruit and vegetables operators. It was created in 1998 and since then it has been joined by 34 members, among the most important Italian producers’ organisations and private trade companies. Interview with M. Valtiero Mazzotti, President of the Centro Servizi Ortofrutticoli, who comments on E-Fruitrace, an European project that serves traceability. Fructidor : What is the CSO organisation like ? V. Mazzotti : The CSO' s activity is organised into three sections: Statistics and observatory on the market, to provide the operators with useful information for their strategies. Marketing and development, to support the image of the Italian fruit and vegetables system, especially for typical products, and to promote the product quality to favour consumers’ requirements. Logistics, dealing with rationalising all the aspects connected with product handling, protecting the environment as well as producers and consumers. CSO is then involved in many other issues of general interest, such as traceability. Fructidor : Are the quality control & traceability very important things within the CSO? What % of your budget do they represent ? V. Mazzotti : We begun to deal with traceability about two years ago. Due to our role in providing services and to our tight connections with the world of production, we are extremely interested in developing traceability systems in order to fulfil two purposes: to control the risk, thus satisfying the increasing demand of food safety; to support brand marketing strategies and therefore to monitor and trace the quality and distinctive aspects of a product. At present time, the projects related to traceability represent 5% of our budget, but when we will change from a planning stage to an operative one, this percentage will rise significantly. Fructidor : What measures have you set up to help your members in achieving traceability projects ? V. Mazzotti : CSO has already been involved for two years in promoting two species like the Pear from Emilia Romagna and the Peach and Nectarine from Romagna, which have obtained the PGI certification from the EU. Around 3,700 hectares have been certified during the last campaign, representing an example for a product that is tracked down from the production to the selling outlet. We are working hard on the marketing of these products, and traceability is a leading issue to this extent. We are working together with our member companies on developing traceability systems that, as far as the risk’s management is concerned, are effective and not much expensive. In few words: it is necessary to determine a common standard to permit the information to flow through the various stages of the production chain. Fructidor : With European partners (BRM, Catalunya Qualidad, Aslan Import, Agromare & IRTA), you have created an Internet platform dedicated to the quality control. How does it work ?

V. Mazzotti : We are talking about E-Fruitrace, a project funded by the EU that started a year ago. The project’s aim is to test an Internet traceability platform for spreading the information about the product, with regard both to the risk’s management and to quality. This platform could therefore be the solution to handle product marketing strategies, whether worked out by the producers or deriving from the supply specifications of the retail world. This will be possible since we have planned out a flexible system, that can be customised depending on the requirements of producers and retailers. Fructidor : In 2005, traceability will be obligatory. Do you think that Europe will be ready? V. Mazzotti : Of all agro-industrial sectors, the fruit and vegetable one has recorded the fewer food scandals and is therefore not so much at risk. What will derive from the enforcement of the EU Regulation 178/2002 will fall within the prerequisites that the product must possess and will thus not give any added value to the products. On the other hand the social meaning of this operation is very important, because it will help the food chain to better control the possible crisis. The EU citizens will feed with a greater safety, thanks to a codified system for the risk’s management. I fear however that the EU countries are quite behindhand with the enforcement of this Regulation. And 2005 is not far off.