This CRP builds on earlier meals authenticity tasks and goals to empower international locations, notably low and middle-income international locations, to apply nuclear applied sciences to fight seafood fraud. It goals to improve shopper safety, enhance belief in meals management techniques and assist sustainable aquatic useful resource administration.
The targets of this CRP embody growing and validating fit-for-purpose analytical strategies, establishing standardized sampling and preparation protocols and producing new analytical information to tackle data gaps in seafood fraud detection.
A deliberate output of the CRP might be to create reference databases of isotopic and molecular fingerprints for numerous seafood merchandise. These databases will feed into digital meals traceability techniques, facilitating worldwide commerce and regulatory compliance.
The CRP can even function a platform for strengthening experience, enabling know-how switch, regional collaboration and coaching. Participating international locations might be outfitted to align nationwide seafood labelling rules with Codex and worldwide requirements.
“This IAEA project provides Member States with a valuable opportunity to collaborate in combating fraud and de-risking the seafood supply chain using robust nuclear science-based tools. Seafood provenance information can benefit trade and contribute to industry sustainability,” stated Debashish Mazumder, Food Provenance Project Leader on the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.
Over 5 years, this CRP will produce scientific IAEA publications to share outcomes with meals security networks, regulators and business. The long-term impression seeks to lengthen past seafood authenticity by contributing to sustainability and fairness in seafood worth chains, supporting artisanal fisheries and combating unlawful and unregulated fishing.