Why did we choose the GDST Standard?
Why we chose the GDST standard and how it makes our customers' lives better
The global seafood industry is an incredibly complex network of actors, from the wild catch of fish to the consumers who buy it in stores and restaurants. To fully understand and optimize the industry’s movements, it is essential to have an efficient system of data standardization and traceability.
When seafood is bought or sold, whether on the wharf or at the checkout, we should be able to check if it is from a reliable, sustainable, and legally source. Today, most seafood changes hands multiple times across many geographies, and transactions are recorded on paper. These transactions are buried in filing cabinets and spreadsheets spread across the supply chain. This makes it incredibly hard for regulators and consumers to have confidence that products are from safe, reliable, and sustainable sources.
What are Data Standards, and why are they important?
Data standards provide a common language for exchanging and sharing data, while traceability systems ensure that the data is accurate and reliable. Together, they create an environment of interoperability and data sharing that can be leveraged to
Improve efficiency,
Reduce the presence of Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing practices, and
Ensure adherence to Food Safety Practices throughout the supply chain
Data standardization is certainly not new. Here are some basic examples of data standards:
Debit Card Standards allow you to use your debit card will work in any ATM around the world (for a fee, of course).
HTTP is the data standard on the internet that allows any computer to understand how to interpret the code for websites.
Retail barcodes can be scanned at any checkout counter, and the product is recognized by the teller.
Global Dialogue in Seafood Traceability (GDST) Standard
The Global Dialogue in Seafood Traceability (GDST) has spent years consulting with industry partners to develop a data standard specifically for the seafood industry.
The standard clearly describes the data that needs to be recorded and the mechanism for sharing this data. Yet, it is flexible enough for implementation for a wide range of businesses with different processes and stages of digitization. They understand that implementing the standards will take time, and each company will be unique. The GDST standard also builds a foundation for enhancements in the future.
Where do we go from here?
Writing the standard is just the beginning. The seafood industry will become more efficient and transparent with the increased use of standardized data. Some examples of future benefits:
Quality managers will not need to dig into file cabinets to find receiving and shipping paper records for their auditors or customers. They can share their traceability records electronically, even remotely.
Import & Export paperwork can be submitted automatically.
Retailers will have more trust in their supply chains and feel more comfortable adding and promoting seafood products in their stores.
Greater transparency leads to more insight into the supply chain leading to further efficiencies, better quality, and a better product.
Final Thoughts
Having an industry standard for recording and sharing data is critical to an industry as far-reaching as the seafood industry, but it is only the first step. We need technology providers to adopt the standards in their products and companies to implement them in their business. This will help the entire industry to become more sustainable and efficient.
We are excited to be one of the first seafood traceability solutions providers to be certified by the GDST. We look forward to working with them in the coming years to ensure the seafood industry benefits from increased data standardization.