Enterprise-grade blockchain solution provider VeChain says it has established an interoperable blockchain agricultural traceability platform for the government of Inner Mongolia region. 

Called the Ongnuid Banner Traceability Platform, VeChain confirmed holding an offline event on Friday December 24 to showcase it to companies and regions with a call for them to participate in using the platform and even develop theirs in line with government policies.

China may have banned Bitcoin-related activities, the Chinese government is unequivocally interested in the blockchain technology. In a guidance made public mid this year by the Office of the Central Committee on Cybersecurity and Information Technology of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, they see blockchain as a solution to trust and security problems among others.

The guidance touches on the blockchain technology being used for supply chain management, product traceability in various sectors and data sharing including data related to government affairs.

VeChain notes that its company was commissioned by the Inner Mongolia government earlier in 2021 to build the traceability platform which it says now has 12 companies connected to it. 

A traceability system helps consumers/end users get necessary information about a product with the scan of a QR code. The solution highlights the multiple layers of its benefits all through the supply chain process to include the uploading of a proof of origin and validating the use of high-quality ingredients which all help prevent damages to a company’s reputation. 

Key stakeholders – government, enterprises and consumers/end users – stand to benefit from the platform in their various capacities according to its design. The government will gain oversight of the entire supply chain process including additional info like quality assurance data while enterprises have data management access throughout the process and consumers/end users get product details from the platform including ingredients and quality test reports.

From inspection and testing to public information like merchant, market and regulatory updates, all data uploaded to the blockchain-based traceability system become authoritative records as it is tamper-proof and accessible by all stakeholders in real time.

The process helps to ward off various forms of food contamination and possibly curb the further spread of foodborne illnesses or other issues as the source of any contaminated ingredient could be easily traced.

VeChain has been focusing on blockchain-based traceability for quite some time but it may not be the first to roll out a related platform in the agriculture space. A report claims that the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Market Supervision is the first in China to create an agricultural products traceability platform with blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, big data and cloud computing. 

VeChain recently powered PwC China to release Air Trace, an innovative digital solution for tracking supply chain data in a transparent way for stakeholders to meet compliance and governance responsibility demands and lessen pain points with faster deployment and higher interoperability.

Earlier, through its Thor blockchain technology, VeChain worked with Walmart China to launch a food safety traceability platform in June 2019. The Walmart China Blockchain Traceability Platform is the first to apply blockchain technology to food traceability.