Adoption of traceability system in Chinese fishery process enterprises: Difficulties, incentives and performance

Author: Feng Wang ¹, Zetian Fu ¹, Weisong Mu ¹, Liliana M. Moga ² and Xiaoshuan Zhang ^1*

Received 13 January 2009, accepted 4 April 2009.

Abstract

The paper presents the results of an empirical study on traceability system adoption in Chinese fishery process enterprises, which are based on a survey on 21 tilapia enterprises in Guangdong and Hainan province. The results show that the function of traceability system is recognized by most enterprises, but traceability system is adopted mainly in large enterprises. Inconsistent traceability standard, high costs, lack of necessary conditions and little government support are the main barriers of system adoption for small and medium-sized enterprises. For all the enterprises, the common incentive factors influencing traceability system adoption are improvement of product quality, need of healthy consumption and improvement of management style, also different ownership enterprises have different preference motives. The most notable adoption performance is proved in private enterprises, followed by state-owned enterprises and joint-vent enterprises. Finally, some suggestions are shown for effective adoption of traceability system in Chinese fishery process enterprises.

Key words: Traceability system, fishery process enterprises, food safety.