Product certification and traceability

Voluntary product certification stems from the modern marketing needs of positioning, enhancing and diversifying agricultural products that possess special characteristics not required by current regulations.

These characteristics can then be communicated to the consumer.

It may be certification for business-to-consumer reasons, which is communicated directly via the label of the finished product or certification for business-to-business (B2B), related mainly to private standards.
 
In the B2C framework, certification is a useful tool to communicate to the market (customers, consumers and the general public) that the products fulfill the requirements stated (see Gluten-Free).
 
B2B certifications are aimed at facilitating trade between sector operators (GSFS-BRC, IFS, Global G.A.P, QS).

The goal is to provide guarantees to buyers using certifiable standards as the common base upon which to build.
 
The element often present within product regulations is the traceability of foodstuff and its ingredients, which also has a specific reference standard, ISO 22005, dedicated to supply chain traceability systems.

The certification of the supply chain starts from the assumption that companies are united by contractual ties to form a sort of enlarged company (the supply chain), and that there is a coordinator tasked with getting the final goods to market, who then takes responsibility for the compliance of finished products.

The management of the supply chain allows the integration of the agricultural sector within the quality systems of the food chain, where producers and processors work together to ensure product integrity.