Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) has empowered consumers by enabling them to track the sources of food and beverages through blockchain technology.

SFDA has cooperated with the Digital Government Authority (DGA) to carry out the Proof of Concept experiment for the use of blockchain.

This comes within the framework of the government agencies’ efforts to adopt promising and innovative uses of technology by exploring the opportunities that would enhance digital transformation and upgrade the digital economy in Saudi Arabia.

The experiment focused on tracking the product's journey from scratch, starting from the farm until reaching the points of sale.

This will be carried through showing the product's journey details, and the related agencies with the supply chain, such as the farm, slaughterhouse, and retailer. The service will be characterized as being completely clear and transparent to the final consumer.

The data will be recorded in decentralized records that are not subject to any modification, which is considered one of the most secure and developed records.

The experiment tracks other information related to supply chain partners, the most important of which is the Halal certificate from the Saudi Halal Center, which follows up on the operations of the slaughterhouses for meat products in the form of a non-fungible symbol (NFT).

These developed records will help strengthen the transparency value, which would increase the trust level among supply chain entities and consumers.

This comes in line with the global market of Halal products, which is witnessing high growth.

It also comes as an opportunity for empowering local companies to reach global markets while having a competitive advantage, which is a Halal certificate approved by the Saudi Halal Center, in an unalterable form and the form of an NFT.

Therefore, it will contribute to verifying the products' halal status and strengthen the transparency value, as well as support promising local companies.

Blockchain is a relatively new technology that includes a wide range of applications in various fields and is being used in different sectors, such as the government sector.

It is worth mentioning that this experiment is one of the first innovative experiments in the world to apply product tracking using blockchain technology issued by a government agency.

SFDA clarified the first steps to benefit from the blockchain tracking service. It begins by scanning the barcode of the product to show the historical data of the product from the producing farm, which will reveal information about it. Then the consumer will be able to review information about the slaughterhouse and the Halal certificate.

After that data, and information about the distributor will appear, all the way to the retailer, which will then show the date and time of the product's arrival at the point of sale.