Constructing a tool for Seafood Quality Traceability

International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume VII, Issue VI, June 2020 | ISSN 2321–2705

Constructing a tool for Seafood Quality Traceability

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Nguyen Doan Khoi
Department of Scientific Research Affairs, Can Tho University

Abstract: Seafood quality traceability systems have become of increasing concern for suppliers in both developed and developing countries. At this moment (2020), seafood produced in Vietnam often do not satisfy the expectations of Western consumers with respect to the desired quality. Moreover, production chains do not always operate efficiently and effectively, due to lack of quality traceability systems. The scientific challenge with respect to the improvement of the quality traceability of seafood supply chains implies the structural incorporation of the important elements in the process of food production, which are based on current scientific research for quality-orientated product development, namely a coordinated supply chain traceability approach to the production to deal with the complexity of optimising seafood production systems; and incorporation of extrinsic food quality parameters into the production and supply chain.

Key words: seafood quality, supply chain, traceability.

I. INTRODUCTION

Consumers realize how many steps and procedures are required to put seafood products on the supermarket shelf, nor do they know how it is produced, or from which towns and villages it originates, so called traceability. Although this is changing for some consumers who are becoming more aware of the type of food they eat, most other actors in the supply chain must meet global standards and monitor activities to be able to satisfy consumers’ demands. Supply chains for seafood products such as shrimp have changed from supply-driven to demand-driven. That means consumers are the key agent in the chain. Hence, coordination, trust and governance of the chain are of vital important to satisfy consumer preferences. This paper focused on seafood quality management supply chain in Vietnam.
Quality control at the farm level focuses on the biological and human activities for producing fish with certain intrinsic and extrinsic attributes). Quality assurance at the chain focuses on the chain actors’ responsibilities for dovetailing several activities within the supply chain in order to deliver the quality that consumers desired. Quality management includes quality control and quality assurance that covers both biological management of the produce as well as human management of activities. The shrimp supply chain consists of several different actors: (1) small-scale producers, (2) traders and (3) processing/export firms

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