Australian Wool Traceability Hub – 90% of Wool to be Traced by 2025
- Friday, 10 May 2024
The Australian Wool Traceability Hub is an opportunity for the Australian wool industry to get ahead of the curve when it comes to Australian wool’s Emergency Animal Disease (EAD) response plan as well as end-to-end commercial traceability from farm to first stage processor.
An industry owned and led initiative, the Australian Wool Traceability Hub (the Hub) is scheduled to be officially launched by mid-year.
The Hub is being developed with input from Australian wool industry organisations: Wool Industries Australia (WIA), Australian Wool Testing Authority (AWTA), Australian Wool Innovation (AWI), Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX), National Council of Wool Brokers of Australia (NCWBA), Australian Council of Wool Exporters and Processors (ACWEP) and WoolProducers Australia (WPA).
The nation’s testing authority AWTA will manage and operate the Hub on behalf of the industry, overseen by WIA.
The purpose of the Hub is to strengthen the confidence in reliability and efficiency of the transfer of key information within the Australian wool supply chain from wool growers to first stage processors.
When fully operational, the Hub will initially focus on helping the industry respond to potential biosecurity threats. A vital part of managing any Emergency Animal Disease (EAD) outbreak is being able to track and locate any wool which may have come from contaminated sites, ranging from the farm to the wool store, dump or shipping containers and all the way to processing locations.
At the recent IWTO conference, participants heard that brands and consumers are increasingly interested in the provenance of products. By collecting key information along the wool supply chain, the Hub aims to achieve traceability in the Australian wool industry and ultimately be able to help respond to provenance requests from the market. The platform will be available to wool growers, sellers and buyers who wish to use it to manage wool traceability.
It is anticipated that more than 90% of bales will be able to be traced using the Hub by July 2025.
Engagement has begun with key stakeholders, particularly wool sellers and buyers for data sharing preparedness and feedback which will influence the end product delivery. Anyone interested in keeping up to date on further developments of the Hub can visit www.awth.com.au/subscribe.
Property Identification Code (PIC)
As at March 2024 the national PIC adoption rate is about 50%, which is significantly lower than what is required to adequately deal with an EAD event. Moving forward, the goal is to receive a 100% adoption rate which will enable a rapid response to help minimise the inevitable trade disruptions that would follow in the event of an EAD incursion.
Further information regarding Property Identification Codes can be found via the below link. https://awta.com.au/index.php/en/news/291-pic-and-the-australian-wool-traceability-hub-awt
For any questions or feedback in regards to the Australian Wool Traceability Hub project, please contact AWTH support via the below QR code or link.
