The Partnership for Food Traceability (PFT) is a newly launched, public-private partnership to advance a shared vision for enhanced food traceability ahead of the January 2026 deadline of the FDA’s Food Traceability Rule (FSMA 204(d)).
“Although the rule … requires coordination across sectors, industries, company sizes and business models for traceability, it does not address how that coordination is to be achieved,” says the letter announcing the new organization.
PFT will be “an independent, sector-neutral forum for industry, regulators, industry associations, technical experts and technology vendors … with a focus on defining consensus business and functional requirements for traceability.
“The group will work toward defining a consistent set of business and functional requirements for traceability, a decision-making mechanism on industry’s traceability implementation and an organized plan for how the industry can successfully migrate to enhanced traceability.
“Resources and materials created via the public-private partnership to implement and comply with traceability requirements will be open-source. The organization will also identify additional pilot needs and coordinate public-private engagement in future pilots.”
It promises participation from FDA, state and local officials. “Together, the partnership will allow for industry and regulators to learn from each other while working to advance traceability,” today’s announcement said.
Ben Miller, EVP of regulatory and scientific affairs for The Acheson Group (achesongroup.com) and Eric Marshall, a principal at Leavitt Partners (leavittpartners.com), were key figures in the founding of PFT and are shepherding the organization through its development as a member-run organization.
Although the Food Traceability Rule does not mandate electronic traceability, the rule aligns with FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety initiative, which aims to harness technology and data to advance food safety and traceability. With food companies increasingly employing electronic traceability, a tremendous momentum toward electronic traceability has been created, which has simultaneously highlighted the complexities and cross-sector interdependencies needed to achieve that goal.
PFT has begun its initial member sign-up period and will hold board member elections in October, with a goal of holding its first board meeting on Oct. 23. For more information and membership application, visit PFTraceability.org.
