For blockchain technologies to support improved cross-border trading, collaboration across jurisdictions will be vital. For BeefLedger, it is not just vital but central to our “DNA”.
As a platform designed to support better value beef trading outcomes between Australian and other countries – especially in the first instance, China – building systems, processes and standards that meet the exacting requirement of trading counter-parties is a must.
There’s no avoiding the realities that the technologies must become acceptable to existing institutions that support trading, such as agricultural regulators, food safety bodies and those responsible for customs and inspections. That’s the “real world” dimension of analogue supply chains.
We’ve been working behind the scenes for quite some time with Chinese importers and wholesalers as well as financial institutions, and it was a pleasure to take this another step further last week.
High Level Exchange
Under the auspice of Food Agility CRC (www.foodagility.com), BeefLedger had the pleasure of engaging in detailed dialogue with senior officials from the China Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The dialogue opened up detailed discussions about:
- The centrality of digitalisation and “informatization” of supply chains to enhance transactional veracity and credibility;
- The importance of blockchain technologies for improved food safety outcomes for Chinese consumers; and
- The opportunity and need to focus on developing robust data collection systems and processes to ensure confidence in the veracity and credentials of the information.
Naturally, we focused on the challenges and opportunities to bringing new technological sensibilities to the beef supply chain, which is one of the most significant areas of food safety and fraud risk in China at present.
The discussions built on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent observations that blockchain technologies form a centrepiece of the digital era of economic and social development, and when coupled with big data analytics and artificial intelligence, make up a powerful triumvirate of digitalisation capacity.
BeefLedger is looking forward to a reciprocal visit to Beijing to expand on the discussions and to promote further cross-jurisdictional understanding and dialogue so as to identity and promote win-win opportunities.
Delegation Members
The delegation was led by Mr Song Danyang, Deputy Director-General Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and also involved the following organisational leaders:
- Mr Wang Song, Division Director, Department of Market and Informatization;
- Professor Xu Shiwei, Chief Scientist of Agricultural Monitoring and Early-warning team, Agricultural Institute of CAAS and Director of Key Laboratory of Agri-Agri-Information Service Technology;
- Professor Wang Yingkuan, Director of the Agricultural Engineering information Institute; and
- Dr Duan Cuifang, Deputy Director, Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
