OnTrace Encourages Small and Large Food Producers to Adopt GS1 Standards to Bolster Innovation and Competitiveness

GUELPH, ONTARIO, Oct 05 (MARKET WIRE) --
OnTrace Agri-food Traceability (OnTrace), the leader in agriculture and
agri-food traceability programs and initiatives in the province of
Ontario, is encouraging food producers, small and large, to become
"GTIN-equipped" (Global Trade Item Number - a GS1 Global Standard) in
order to become more competitive and responsive to changes in demands for
food traceability.

Recent requirements announced by some of Canada's major food retailers
have prompted a growing need for a low cost, simple way for growers and
producers to obtain GS1 numbers. Fortunately, OnTrace has been able to
offer Global Location Numbers to any Ontario producer who registers with
their Ontario Agri-food Premise Registry (OAPR) since May 2008. A GLN
makes it possible to uniquely and unambiguously identify a grower or
producer's physical location. The value of GS1 standardized
identification has become more evident given recent government and
industry focus on food traceability.

Loblaw has announced to industry that it requires all produce to be
marked with a GS1 DataBar. This DataBar is essentially a smaller version
of the bar code, which enables GTIN identification, suitable for use on
produce. Traditionally, retailers have been content to accept the
identification of the packer on goods they receive but now this is no
longer the case. Other retailers are expected to follow Loblaw's lead.
Adoption will enable traceability back to the producer/grower.

Today, many growers have begun to use GTINs to identify their products
when they sell to packers, because the packers require it. Though some
packers use their own (proprietary) identification systems, many are
already opting to use global trade item numbers for bar coding cases and
pallets. Consequently there will be further motivation for the individual
grower to use GTINs on their shipments so that grower and packer are
"speaking" the same standard identification format.

OnTrace helps primary producers increase market access and differentiate
their products from those of their competitors by working with businesses
to improve their capacity to manage food traceability. Furthermore, as
Brian Sterling, OnTrace's CEO points out, "OnTrace from the start has
been building Ontario's traceability system to work with international
standards of identification. GTIN is a global standard and trade today is
international. Any producer, regardless of size, can compete anywhere in
the world when armed with the proper tools, such as a Global Trade Item
Number (GTIN)."

"The GS1 System of unique global identification and related standards
supports OnTrace's vision of whole chain traceability, " said Curtiss
Littlejohn, Chair of the Board of Directors, OnTrace. "We value our
partnership with GS1 Canada because it offers support to agriculture
producers to access broader markets and to meet trade requirements. From
our perspective the more GTIN equipped producers we have in Ontario, the
stronger and more viable our agriculture and food sector will become."

"As traceability across the supply chain increases as a business
requirement, GS1 Canada wants to ensure that Ontario producers have
access to the tools being used across Canada and around the world," said
N. Arthur Smith, President and CEO, GS1 Canada." OnTrace has worked with
GS1 to clarify the needs of its stakeholders to us. As a result of this
collaboration, as well as other discussions with industry, we have
introduced new membership levels to support smaller operations that
include many of Canada's agriculture producers. We want to ensure that
all businesses, regardless of their size or how many products they
produce, can capitalize and effectively compete by taking advantage of
the benefits of this global supply chain system."

More information is available here.

ABOUT GS1 CANADA

GS1 Canada is a member of GS1, the world's leading supply chain standards
organization. As a neutral, not-for-profit organization, GS1 Canada
enables its more than 10,000 members - organizations of all sizes from 23
sectors across Canada - to enhance their efficiency and cost
effectiveness by adopting electronic supply chain best practices. Learn
more at www.gs1ca.org.

The GS1 System is the world's most widely used supply chain standards
system, providing a unique and standardized global identification of
products, physical locations, assets, shipping containers, and related
electronic communications. More than one million companies in over twenty
major industries, from raw materials to retailers, use these standards to
conduct business efficiently in over 140 countries around the world.

ABOUT ONTRACE AGRI-FOOD TRACEABILITY

OnTrace is the industry-led, not-for-profit corporation created to lead
food traceability programs and initiatives in the province of Ontario.
The OnTrace Board of Directors is made of senior industry leaders from a
cross-section of agriculture and other industry sectors. OnTrace's goals
are: to deliver traceability solutions that will enable the agriculture
and agri-food industry in Ontario to become more innovative and
competitive and; to strengthen the capacity of industry and government to
respond to agriculture and food emergencies.

OnTrace is located at: 1030 Gordon Street, Suite 202, Guelph, ON N1G 4X5.
Contact coordinates are: Toll Free 1-888-38-TRACE (8-7223) Phone
519.766.9292, Fax 519.766.1313. For media kit and further information,
visit: www.ontraceagrifood.com.

Contacts:
MEDIA CONTACT:
Special Assignment Inc.
Peter Donato
416.964.6118
donato@specialassignment.com

ONTRACE:
OnTrace Agri-food Traceability
Sara Avoledo
519.766.9292
sara.avoledo@ontraceagrifood.com

GS 1 CANADA:
GS1 Canada
Sarah Charuk
416.510.8039 x 2229
Sarah.Charuk@gs1ca.org

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