RFID tamper-proof packaging
The 2015 proposal
RFID-coded tamper-proof packaging carrying farm, farmer, soil, crop, grade, buyer, warehouse and every transaction.
Where it stands in 2026
Practice converged on lot-level QR/GS1 plus repositories (APEDA TraceNet, GrapeNet, eNWR) rather than per-bag RFID, whose economics suit pallets, not 30-kg sacks. The EU food law and the US FSMA traceability rule are the regulatory templates.
The open gap
Grain-level tracing remains aspirational; bag-level RFID is uneconomic.
The path to close it
Stop chasing per-bag RFID — the economics never close on a 30-kg sack — and standardise on lot-level GS1/QR tied to the eNWR and the assay record, keeping RFID for pallets and the cold chain. Mandate one interoperable lot-ID across APEDA TraceNet, GrapeNet and eNWR so a lot stays traceable from mandi to plate, following the EU food-law and US FSMA templates already in force abroad.
Sources
- ↗ WDRA — Warehousing Development & Regulatory Authority (eNWR) — Govt. of India
- ↗ Design of a Blockchain-Enabled Traceability System Framework for Food Supply Chains — Foods (MDPI, open access via PMC), 2022
- ↓ Food Traceability Guidance — FAO, 2017
- ↗ Food law general requirements (General Food Law, Reg. (EC) 178/2002, Art. 18 traceability) — European Commission, DG Health & Food Safety, 2024
- ↓ Guidance on the Implementation of Articles 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19 and 20 of Reg. (EC) 178/2002 — European Commission, 2010