TEAP Project >> Marie Curie Actions, PIRSES-GA-2013-612659

General – Final Objectives

Improve future collaboration between partners: a/ Preparing new research common projects

b/ Developing thematic networks with the participation of both sides; c/ Supporting long time expertise exchange.

Specific – Thematic Objectives

Share knowledge about four main lines:

1. Good Agricultural Practices and Quality Standards in application;

   
   

2. Alert programs in the production and disease warning models;

   
   

3. HACCP software in the logistics;

   
   

4. Traceability systems for the supply chain of agricultural products “seed-to-plate”.

Objectives Description

The main objective of “A Traceability and Early warning system for supply chain of Agricultural Product: complementarities between EU and China” (TEAP) joint research program is to increase mobility and exchange of researchers between EU countries and China to obtain better understanding of agricultural product quality and safety in Europe and China. EU formulated more strict food labelling and traceability law to tackle food

security issues in the 1990s. As EU plays a leading role in food labelling and traceability worldwide, there are many successful practices of EU that could be drawn on by other countries in identification, early warning, restriction, recall and management. China also accumulated experience and lessons that are worth sharing while enjoying fast growth. China issued a series of laws and regulations to ensure food safety, such as Food Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China and Law of the People’s Republic of China on Quality and Safety of Agricultural Products. These laws and regulations already strengthened food management, in particular the food traceability system in China. A key point of this project is sharing the scientific knowledge about how food security and traceability is done in both areas, in order to improve the control and management of crisis like the one of cucumbers in Europe or the strawberries in China.

We must point that this proposal is based on the outcome of the “Symposium on Safety Management, Inspection and Traceability Technology for Agro-products” organized under the auspices of EU and China in Beijing, China in October 2008. Several partners in the TEAP group, such as UAL, UB, AUA, NERCITA, and CAU, joined and established common research relationships during the conference, including several exchange visits since 2005. Knowledge generated by these partners reflects both national and international concerns, and is of particular value to Europe in the light of such global trade and supply chain of agricultural products. This program tries to solve the lack of a common multi- and cross-disciplinary approach to the traceability and early warning research for food safety. UAL leads the project and the European Team, NERCITA leads the Chinese part of the project.

This programme will focus on the following four areas:

1. Good Agricultural Practices and Quality Standards for production planning;

   
   

2. Optimum techniques of Soil, fertilizer, water management and pest warning models and systems for Integration Production, including in this area the knowledge about (local) pathogens management;

   
   

3. HACCP software in the fresh agri-product logistics for quality safety control;

   
   

4. Traceability systems for the supply chain of agricultural products “seed-to-plate”.

These four areas of work are ordered following the flux of the products from the farm to the final consumer. The benefits for Europe and China include:

• Access to standards, patents, papers and data sets on traceability and early warning system for supply chain of agricultural products in China. This is a key point taking account the increasing volume of interchange of agricultural products from China to Europe and vice versa.

• New insights into how Third Countries such as China are developing scientific models and techniques on traceability and early warning system for supply chain of agricultural products and the impact of food open markets in food safety.

Coordination of regional systems will be a key result of the project. This is a point of special interest for Europe.

• The opportunity to understand how similar problems of agricultural product quality safety are dealt with in different regions of the world, and offer a common base to manage possible problems.

• The creation of enduring networks of expertise and international research partnerships in an area of central concern to governments, as well as to scientists, engineers and practitioners. This project is continuation of previous activities and will seed new ones.