IBM, Government of Vietnam and FXA Group Join Forces to Ensure Global Seafood Safety

IBM, Government of Vietnam and FXA Group Join Forces to Ensure Global Seafood
Safety

Strategic Collaboration Enables Smarter Food with Greater Safety and Quality
Across the Entire Food Supply Chain

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, May 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM)
and FXA Group today announced a first of a kind collaboration with the Vietnam
Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) and the Vietnamese
State Agency for Technological Innovation (SATI) that will accelerate the
adoption of traceability solutions to improve global food safety.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO )

As part of a pilot project, IBM and FXA will collaborate with several local
technology companies in Vietnam to provide a system that will use Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to track Vietnamese seafood exports
-- a market worth more than US$4.25 billion in 2008. The goal of this
strategic initiative will allow tracking of the origin of Vietnamese seafood
exports and help ensure seafood's freshness upon its arrival in global
markets.

The food industry is facing some of the most challenging market conditions in
its history. Consumer pressure and industry requirements for quality and
traceability are driving producers to provide more detail on products. With
foods being sourced across international borders, consumers are demanding to
know more about the products they buy and the conditions they were grown and
kept in -- from farm to dinner table.

Over the past several months, SATI has been working with IBM and other
business partners to apply new technologies in food safety, including sea and
aquaculture products for export. IBM, in collaboration with FXA, SATI and
VASEP, held a seminar on May 12 in Can Tho city, Vietnam, to introduce seafood
traceability systems using IT and RFID technology.

"Many countries have set strict regulations and industry requirements for
monitoring of the food transportation process and traceability of the origin
of the food," Dr Chu Ngoc Anh, Director of SATI. "The application of advanced
technology such as RFID and traceability solutions can help Vietnamese seafood
producers meet international industry standards and increasingly strict
technical requirements. This will help increase the quality and productivity
of the industry, and enhance the value of our exports."

"In the long term, advanced traceability solutions can help boost the quality
and prestige of Vietnamese seafood industry in the global market," Dr Chu
added.

As part of the collaboration, IBM and FXA Group's traceability technologies
will be tested at selected Vietnamese farms which export seafood to retailers
in Japan, the U.S. and Europe. Using FXA technology, the organizations will be
able to collect the critical data about each batch of shrimp and other seafood
-- which farm it came from, where it was processed, its current location,
temperature, and other relevant data. IBM technology will make that
information accessible to all the parties involved in the seafood supply chain
-- including wholesalers, shippers, and retailers. Additionally, IBM
technology will make it possible to trace individual boxes of frozen shrimp
with a serial number.

The technology allows the collection of details such as a piece of shrimp came
from which farm, at what temperature the batch of shrimp was stored or when
and how the shrimp is harvested. If something goes wrong, retailers and
authorities can pinpoint where the problem food is, arrange a targeted recall
and potentially minimize the number of people affected.

"We are confident the new technology will help us achieve the goal of meeting
the highest seafood industry standards," said Nguyen Hoai Nam, VASEP's Deputy
General Secretary at Can Tho seminar. "There is a proven record of some
seafood processing and exporting companies in Thailand benefiting from the
technology. In the future, we want to have many more seafood companies to use
the technology to boost the quality of their seafood products in Vietnam."

Vietnam is among the world's top 10 largest seafood exporters. VASEP, whose
members account for 80 percent of the country's total seafood export revenue,
is committed to ensuring high quality and safety of the seafood exported from
Vietnam.

"In collaboration with retailers and government agencies, we are increasing
consumer confidence by providing innovative technologies for tracing not only
the origins and ingredients in food but the path they have traveled on before
they arrive at stores," said Girish Vasudevan, Territory Executive, IBM
Vietnam.

Technology for Smarter Food
In the food industry, the full value of traceability is achieved when
producers and their trading partners can access and share information about
food from the farm to the dinner table. IBM's InfoSphere Traceability Server
software allows trading partners to track products as they move through the
global supply chain. The IBM software is fully compliant with GS1 EPC global
Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS) standard for capturing
and sharing information on a product's location, temperature, and other
relevant data.

OpsSmart, FXA's food traceability solution, has been tested in successful
private and government implementations in the produce, seafood, poultry and
livestock industries. The software can be used with various data capture
technologies such as linear barcodes, 2-D barcodes and Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) systems. FXA technology provides building blocks that
can accommodate all manner of traceability needs, while IBM's software ensures
that this trusted information can be securely shared and exchanged with the
appropriate parties from the producer, to the manufacturer to the retailer.

About IBM Smart Food
IBM is providing businesses and governments with the technology and expertise
needed to create a smarter, safer food supply for consumers around the world.
The company's researchers, consultants, and software developers have already
built food traceability systems for customers in Canada, Germany, and Norway.
For more information, visit:
http://www.ibm.com/ibm/ideasfromibm/us/smartplanet/topics/food/20081208/index.shtml?&re=spf
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/infosphere/traceability-server/

About Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP)
Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) is a
non-governmental organization set up to support the development of Vietnam's
seafood industry. Its members include leading Vietnamese seafood producers and
exporters and companies providing service to the seafood sector. Seafood
exports of VASEP members represent 80% of the total seafood exports of
Vietnam. For more information about VASEP, please visit
http://vasep.com.vn/vasep/edailynews.nsf/HomePage

Vietnamese State Agency for Technological Innovation (SATI)
State Agency for Technological Innovation (SATI) promotes and supports the
organization and enterprise in Vietnam to increase their technical knowledge
and to deploy technology to improve the productivity, their product and
service quality and competitiveness.

About FXA Group
FXA Group is a leading provider of enterprise traceability solutions across
multiple segments of the food industry. This creates significant value for
each business partner in the food supply chain, by increasing revenues through
differentiating products, gaining easier market access and creating
operational efficiencies. Please visit www.fxagroup.com for more information.

Contact:

Harriet Ip
65-6418-1521
Mobile: 65-8161-8505
harrieti@sg.ibm.com

Kaveri Camire
917-472-3440
Mobile: 914-625-6395
kcamire@us.ibm.com

Nancy Kaplan
914-766-1849
Mobile: 914-714-2299
nkaplan@us.ibm.com

SOURCE IBM

Harriet Ip, +65-6418-1521, or mobile, +65-8161-8505, harrieti@sg.ibm.com, or
Kaveri Camire, +1-917-472-3440, or mobile, +1-914-625-6395,
kcamire@us.ibm.com, or Nancy Kaplan, +1-914-766-1849, or mobile,
+1-914-714-2299, nkaplan@us.ibm.com, all of IBM