VASEP is working with IBM and other technology vendors to provide advanced technologies, including radio frequency identification (RFID), to the association's member seafood producers in an effort to improve the traceability of seafood exported to retailers in the United States, Europe and Japan.

Such technologies would enable the creation of detailed records regarding the origin and movement of seafood products from farm to point of sale to consumers, VASEP said.

The first deployments are set to begin in late June or early July, though VASEP has yet to choose the seafood producers that will participate in the pilots, said Paul Chang, IBM's worldwide lead of business strategy for emerging technologies.

To determine which producers will participate, the association is focusing on those that ship seafood to large U.S. and European retailers with RFID systems already in place.

"We're hoping our work with VASEP will be a model for other countries" looking to improve food traceability, Chang said. "To solve a problem as global as food safety, it'll require collaboration between government, industry groups and technology providers such as IBM."

Seafood sold in the United States must already carry a country-of-origin label,, but the U.S. Congress is considering a number of bills, promoted by the American Public Health Association and other public health groups, aimed at improving food safety.

While tracking seafood shipments with passive RFID tags or bar codes would not enable producers to verify the temperature conditions in which those products are kept, Chang conceded it would be an important first step toward making the movements of seafood exports through the supply chain more transparent.

Eventually, he said, these producers might use battery-assisted or active RFID tags with integrated temperature sensors to both track the location of shipments, and ensure that they remain properly refrigerated during storage and transport.