GLOSSARY · BLOCKCHAIN & WEB3
Traceability
What traceability means: the EU legal definition, backward, internal and forward traceability, a real example and its meaning in metrology and software.
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What is Traceability?
Traceability means the ability to follow a product, batch or component through records: where it came from, which processes it went through and where it went. The GS1 Global Traceability Standard, which uses the definition in the ISO 9000:2015 quality vocabulary, describes it as “the ability to trace the history, application or location of an object.” For a product, that covers the origin of materials and parts, the processing history, and its distribution and location after delivery.
What is the legal definition of traceability?
In the EU it is set out in Article 3(15) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, the General Food Law: “the ability to trace and follow a food, feed, food-producing animal or substance intended to be, or expected to be incorporated into a food or feed, through all stages of production, processing and distribution.” It has been mandatory for food and feed since January 1, 2005 (Articles 18 and 65), under the “one step back, one step forward” principle: each business identifies who supplied it and which businesses it supplied. What it requires in practice is covered in food traceability and Regulation 178/2002.
What are the types of traceability?
The traceability guide of Spain's food safety agency (AESAN) distinguishes three stages:
- Backward (supplier traceability): which products come into the business and who supplies them.
- Internal (process traceability): which input batches end up in each output batch.
- Forward (customer traceability): what goes out and to which immediate customer.
What each stage records and how to set it up, with a step-by-step example, is explained in product traceability.
An example: the code printed on an egg
In the EU, Class A eggs must be marked with the producer code (Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, Annex VII, Part VI): a digit for the farming method (0 organic, 1 free range, 2 barn, 3 cages), the Member State code, such as ES for Spain, and the number of the registered farm (Directive 2002/4/EC, Annex). Records complete the trail: the producer labels each transport package with that code and the laying and dispatch dates (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2465, Article 7). When a problem appears, it can be traced back to the farm and the recall limited to the affected batches.
What does traceability mean in metrology and software?
- Metrology: metrological traceability is the “property of a measurement result whereby the result can be related to a reference through a documented unbroken chain of calibrations, each contributing to the measurement uncertainty” (International Vocabulary of Metrology, VIM, 2.41).
- Software: a traceability matrix records the relationship between two or more products of the development process, such as the requirements and the design of a component (ISO/IEC/IEEE 24765, as cited by NIST).
This entry covers product traceability in the supply chain.
Do you need blockchain for traceability?
No. The main EU traceability rules (food, deforestation, the digital product passport and batteries) do not require it. A shared blockchain ledger adds integrity when several companies must rely on the same data: it proves that an event was not altered after it was recorded, not that it was true (the oracle problem). Where it helps and where it does not is explained in blockchain traceability.
Official sources: Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 (EUR-Lex); Global Traceability Standard (GS1); VIM, 2.41 (BIPM); Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2465 (EUR-Lex).
Facts verified as of October 16, 2026. If you need to prove where your products come from to customers or authorities, at Unknown Gravity we review what data you have, who has to rely on it and whether your current system is enough: tell us about your case.
Explained simply
Traceability means being able to tell a product's story: where its ingredients or parts came from, how it was made and which store it reached. It works by putting a code on the product, such as a batch number, and recording each step. That way, if something goes wrong, only the affected batches are recalled.
Traceability: key points
- The ability to follow the origin, processing and destination of a product or batch through records
- EU food law definition: Article 3(15) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, mandatory for food and feed since 2005
- Three stages: backward (suppliers), internal (process) and forward (customers)
- Relies on an identifier on the product (batch, serial number or producer code) and a record of each step
- In metrology and software the term means something else: calibration chains and requirements matrices
Traceability: advantages
- Targeted recalls: if a batch fails, you know where it came from and where it went, and recall only that batch
- Compliance: identifies immediate suppliers and customers, as Article 18 of Regulation 178/2002 requires
- Proof for third parties: documents the origin that customers, auditors or the EUDR ask for, with the geolocation of plots
Traceability: disadvantages
- Capture cost: the product has to be identified and each step recorded, with labels, readers and training
- Partial view: with the legal minimum of one step back and one step forward, each business only sees its immediate neighbors
- Data quality: a wrongly captured record spreads, and no later system, blockchain included, corrects it