The Asia Pacific (APAC) Provenance Council is looking to improve efficiency in the cross-continental food ecosystem. As a solution, it has integrated blockchain technology into the food supply chain.
APAC has the backing of government agencies, export bodies, standard agencies, packaging, and labeling industry. Also, several top finance firms and blockchain tech platforms have lent their support for this innovation by APAC.
Founding members of the APAC consortium include Fresh Supply Co, Source Certain International, and Laava. Others include VeChain, FoodAgility CRC, DNV GL – Business Assurance, Australian Made, Blockchain Australia, etc. It is important to note that APAC’s main focus is the Australian-China food supply chain.
Global post-COVID-19 food industry
Recently, the Australian government released its National Blockchain Roadmap. Its objective is to help proactively tackle perceived threats to the food and agri-tech industry post-COVID. The roadmap is also instrumental in setting up the APAC Provenance Council on par with the government’s strategy.
Blockchain tech and the APAC Provenance Council
The current onslaught of the Coronavirus pandemic has certainly resulted in making this initiative very significant. According to a Medium blog post, APAC looks to provide a “comprehensive forensically verifiable, securely marked, and blockchain-enabled supply chain finance ecosystem in the food industry”. Moreover, it aimed to bridge the gap and ensure trusted trades between Australian suppliers and Chinese importers.
The blog post quoted David Inderias, the FSC CEO and APAC Provenance Council executive chairman pointing out that making the supply chain more effective was now a global issue. “Many solution providers have offered ‘track and trace’ services, but haven’t addressed industry needs in a comprehensive way through their offering”.
According to Inderias, APAC would help provide top-notch economic value once the pandemic crisis was over. Besides, it would also facilitate funding sources for the supply chain industry.
Sole public blockchain protocol for the consortium
Founded in 2015, VeChain is now the sole public blockchain protocol for the APAC consortium. The blockchain platform is committed to facilitating trustless transactions between multiparty collaborations. VeChain will ensure that the APAC food supply chain is not only efficient but safe and reliable.
CEO of VeChain, Sunny Lu, emphasized that the blockchain would enable partners to design business apps for “a variety of sectors”. According to him, it would also serve as a cushioning effect from the economic impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The VeChain CEO was confident that together with APAC, they would be able to increase productivity “by unleashing more resources and growth opportunities”.
For Australian-based food suppliers, VeChain’s ToolChain would enable them to receive faster payments for their products. All food products traced by ToolChain will be recorded on the blockchain. Also, all the processes, from manufacturing to when the product is delivered will be recorded. It would include details like dispatch, vehicle information, logistics updates, the license of the carrier, and even the temperature during the transportation process.
VeChain will ensure the entire process is trustless and fully documented with its blockchain providing “immutable and authentic records”.
About APAC and VeChain
The formation of the APAC Provenance Council aims to help exporters digitally prove the authenticity of their products. VeChain, on the other hand, links blockchain technology to real-world use cases. It thus provides not just a governing structure but a well-rounded economic model, and even the internet of things (IoT) integration.
The supply chain sector is one area that is experiencing the implementation of decentralized technology. Last year LG launched a blockchain-based supply chain for school children lunch. Earlier this year, VeChain had collaborated with Shanghai Gas to launch an energy project enabled by blockchain technology.
