Increasingly, consumers want to know more about food products they are buying – what is in them, where they come from, the conditions under which they were made, how they got to them, and even how they will be disposed of. At the same time, food scandals have been making headlines for centuries from the rise of madcow disease in 80s till the 2015 “zombie meat scandal” where authorities seized 100,000 tons of expired meat. Such complications are requiring a major transformation in food systems to be able to address consumer demands and protect consumers from potential food fraud.

Brazil is the largest exporter of beef in the world with roughly 1.6 million metric tons exported in 2021, currently supplying quarter of the global beef market. However, the industry is one of the main contributors to the deforestation taking place in the Amazon, where 60% of all Brazilian cows are currently grazing on deforested lands.

Responding to this, The European Union began to demand traceability for its fresh beef market to ensure sustainability, resulting in the introduction of Brazil’s national identification system and the certification of Bovine and Bubaline Origin (SISBOV) program that develops unique animal IDs and digital certifications of farms to be stored and traced electronically. Additionally, to ensure transparency for Brazil’s trade partners, all animal information such as cattle’s origin and destination, cattle brand and inspection service records are consolidated on a unified database that can be accessed through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA) Agricultural Management Platform. Also, the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA) has developed the Agri Trace CNA Brazil System to facilitate the management and organization of information relevant to cattle traceability, while serving as a quarantee for foreign buyers.

Besides, a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak severely affected Uruguay in 2001, resulting in costs of $243.6 million. With 3.8 cattle per capita, beef is Uruguay’s second-largest export product, meaning that such outbreaks pose a significant economic risk to the country. In response, Uruguay implemented an individual livestock traceability system that requires electronic ear tags for all cattle populations to reduce risk exposure and promote food safety. Also, the government provided and distributed the ear tags free of charge to all food producers to ensure its wide adoption.