GB/T 28843-2024Management requirements for traceability in food cold chain logistics (English PDF)

1 Scope

China's national management requirements for traceability in food cold chain logistics. It specifies the basic requirements for traceability management, the traceability information, the collection and recording of that information, the management of the information, and the requirements for implementing traceability. It applies to the traceability management of the cold chain logistics process for prepackaged food by cold chain logistics service providers. A cold chain fails silently. Food that has been warm and has been cooled again looks exactly like food that was never warm, and by the time the consequence appears - as spoilage, as a shortened shelf life, or as illness - the consignment has been split, delivered and consumed, and the excursion that caused it happened days earlier in a vehicle or a chamber that nobody was watching. Traceability is the only mechanism that recovers what happened, and it is the reason a temperature record is worth as much as the refrigeration itself. What this standard requires is that the record exists, that it is attached to the goods rather than to the equipment, and that it can be followed both ways: from a batch of product back to every temperature it experienced and every party that held it, and from a failure in a chamber forward to every consignment that was in it. That two-directional requirement is what makes a recall possible without withdrawing everything. The 2024 edition organises the requirements around the information rather than the process: what information must exist, how it is collected and recorded, how it is stored and shared between the parties in the chain, and how abnormal information is handled - the last being the clause that decides whether an excursion is acted on or simply logged. An informative annex covers the measurement and sampling of food temperature, direct and indirect. Issued on 28 May 2024 and in force since 1 September 2024, it replaces GB/T 28843-2012.

This document specifies the basic requirements for traceability management of food cold chain logistics, traceability information, information collection and recording, traceability information management, and management requirements for implementing traceability. This document applies to the traceability management of the cold chain logistics process for prepackaged food by food cold chain logistics service providers (hereinafter referred to as "the provider").

2 Normative references

The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.

GB/T 18354, Logistics terminology

GB/T 22005, Traceability in the feed and food chain -- General principles and basic requirements for system design and implementation

GB/T 37029-2018, Food traceability -- Requirements for information recording

3 Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions defined in GB/T 18354 as well as the followings apply.

3.1 prepackaged food Food that is prepackaged in fixed quantities or prepared in packaging materials or containers.

3.2 food cold chain logistics A logistics project that uses temperature control as the main means to ensure that food is kept within the required temperature and humidity range from the time it leaves the factory until it is sold. [Source: GB 31605-2020, 2.1]

3.3 traceability By recording and identifying, we can track and trace the history, application, or location of an object's activities. NOTE. Traceability includes tracking and tracing the source. [Source: GB/T 38155-2019, 2.2]

3.4 traceability system A set of interconnected or interacting elements that support the maintenance of products and their components throughout the supply chain or in parts of production and use, including information such as product history, application status, or location. [Source: GB/T 38155-2019, 2.9]

4 Basic requirements

4.1 The provider shall establish a traceability system and conduct regular verification or self-inspection of the traceability system within its business scope. The design and implementation of the traceability system shall comply with the provisions of GB/T 22005 and meet the requirements of the client (hereinafter referred to as "the client") entrusting the food cold chain logistics service.

4.2 The provider shall collect temperature information in the food cold chain logistics as the main traceability content. The collection and recording of temperature information shall be true, reliable and traceable throughout the process.

4.3 The provider shall establish and improve a comprehensive temperature monitoring management system and inter-stage handover procedures. Detailed temperature monitoring operation specifications shall be formulated. The requirements for temperature monitoring and recording of food at different logistics stages shall be clearly defined (including requirements for measuring equipment, selection of temperature measurement points, allowable temperature deviation range, monitoring methods, recording of monitoring results, etc.), as well as requirements for record retention methods and retention periods.

4.4 The provider shall provide business training and performance evaluation for information monitoring operators in accordance with the monitoring operation specifications and information collection and recording requirements.

4.5 The provider shall be equipped with continuous temperature monitoring measuring devices and data recording devices that cannot be manually altered, for monitoring and recording temperature information. The relevant measuring devices shall be metrologically verified and calibrated periodically.

4.6 The provider shall establish an information management system, formulate information storage operation specifications, clarify the information sharing mechanism, and formulate a plan for handling abnormal information.

5 Traceability information

Food cold chain logistics traceability information shall include the basic information in Table

1.Extended information from Table 1 may also be included.