The NATS Geo-Trace System developed by IT Synergy and implemented in GOEIC has a set of unique features for a National Traceability System, fulfilling the needs and requirements of the Ministry of Trace and Industry (MTI), the General Organization of Export and Import Control (GOEIC) and of exporters that require a sophisticated traceability solution.

Thanks to the NATS Geo-Trace, GOEIC is to become a traceability service provider, giving exporters the facilities of using the services from the central server at the GOEIC premises without having to install a system of their own. At the same time, it can be installed as a local system at the exporter company and be used just to send traceability information to the central server at GOEIC. This last option will enable the exporter company to maintain its own resources, while at the same time share traceability data with the GOEIC for monitoring and control of the traceability processes in the whole country.

By giving the exporter the ability to choose between installing a traceability system and using the resources of Geo-Trace application server at GOEIC, the exporter, depending on their budget, personnel and technical infrastructure, can decide to subscribe to the National Traceability System (NATS) as a system user (by using the traceability services directly from NATS) or as a system client (by using its own system and just exchanging traceability information). If there are companies already using a traceability system, they can update their applications by creating a module for sending traceability data (A standard XML file) to NATS, keeping security and confidentiality.

All users of the system, either system users or clients, will be provided with standard tools to query and create different type of reports from system. At the same time, customers can reach non-sensitive data from the Geo-Trace server, as a means to certify quality in all exported products, being able to trace fertilizers and pesticides used, farms where the products were cultivated, location in a GIS map, distribution of the products from the farm and packing house all the way to the destination city.

Through a web application based on a powerful CMS, the system can bring all actors involved in the Fresh Producing market into a single centralized system, capable of sharing traceability information providing trusted management and confidentiality.

With the help of Geo-Trace Application Server, the General Organization for Export and Imports Control (GOEIC), can start capturing the data of fresh producers at the national level into a centralized database server, maintaining appropriate access rights. This will allow the GOEIC to become an application server provider of traceability services to the export industry.

For the purposes of the project, IT Synergy has developed a system based on a Geographical Information System back-end supported by an industrial-class Enterprise Resources Planning – ERP – based on a solid relational database management system server. The reason for this fundamental technology decision is that the data created by the initiative and the ensuing information required to successfully operate it is spatial in nature; the district, the farms, the packing centers, the shipping beginning and end-points, the importers, and the ultimate markets are all entities which yield richer information when they are represented geographically as opposed to a traditional and less intelligent plain database. It will also provide to the stakeholders “market intelligence” and real-time information on all the stages of the process, from the planning phase to the final delivery to the consumer.

Providing an innovative approach to the traceability concept, the consumer will receive a wealth of information that will position the product well above the rest adding value to the certified quality.

Geo-Trace is a web based application, supported by a powerful Content Management System, completely database server independent, used to track traceability variables of different players in the fresh food industry. As a web application, the Geo-Trace System has the flexibility to be hosted in any web server and used from anywhere. The advantages are clear in terms of usability, because it can be used as an application server, with the appropriate access rights, by different exporters, either by transferring data from their own local traceability system, or by using the resources directly from Geo-Trace.

The combination of satellite images and the vector representation of the parcels used for cultivating the export products inside Geo-Trace will provide a great variety and rich information of the farms involved in the export process as well as the exporters. This will evolve into a GIS map of all national fresh producers.

Geo Trace will also provide a tool to monitor the cultivation process of the different products, that will enhance the quality of them and, at the same time, provide with a much easier way of controlling the fertilizers and pesticides that are used in the farms.

The real time monitoring will also allow a better control on the methodology and the resources used and transfer of the know-how from the consultants to the farmers and among them with the best practices identified for this kind of service.

The Open Source approach will also ensure easy replicability into different regions and contexts.

Geo-Traceability and the Land Parcel Identification System – LPIS A Geo-Traceability system requires the identification not only of cadastral parcels but also of the specific crop that is cultivated in those area at a point of time.

This why our proposal suggests the early pilot introduction in project areas of the same concepts of the EC regulation 1593-2000. This regulation compels EC state members to take provision for the introduction of computerized geographical information system techniques for the identification of agricultural parcels. The so called Land Parcel Identification System – LPIS. For the LPIS the “agricultural parcel” is a continuous piece of land cultivated by a single farmer with a single crop while for the cadastre a “parcel” is a continuous piece of land belonging to a single owner. In some case cadastral parcels are also divided into sub-parcels according to different type of land uses, coinciding in these cases with the concept of agricultural parcels.

It is also important to highlight that cadastral information is fixed while crops may change periodically, making the agricultural parcel different from time to time.

Another difference is the fact that while the LPIS deals with farmers, the cadastre only deals with owners.

OFF-Line users

GOEIC registered exporters, whether they require or not to provide traceability information, will have to fill a form called “Unified Statistical Document for Exports – Model No. 13”.

During the initial implementation phase of the NATS project, this form has been developed using Adobe LiveCycle and any user can download it, fill it and print it using a free Adobe Acrobat Reader. Furthermore, the form data can be sent over the Internet or printed as a 2D barcode in the for itself. This will be later automatically and instantaneously captured by the GOIEC staff using a 2D barcode reader.

SMS tracing The initial NATS Geo-Trace concept required users interested in trace a specific product to use a computer connected to the Internet to gather the required information.

In addition to this, the NATS Geo-Trace project has considered the possibility of implementing a SMS based server that may receive a traceability inquiry by SMS, from any mobile phone, from anywhere in the world.

After receiving the traceability batch code, the system will query the database and reply with another SMS that will include basic traceability information in real time.

The same solution may also be used by GOEIC to provide automated information on the status of certain processes. This will be particularly useful in case of those processes, such as physical inspection of goods, that will require an intervention from the interested party.