Traceability Glossary: Learn key terms-Chain of Custody, Book and Claim, Geolocation, Internal Traceability....
The traceability glossary combines terms drawn from the TTN framework survey with complementary traceability terms from recognized external sources.
Term | Definition |
Actor mapping | Identification and mapping of relevant supply chain actors that participate in the production, processing, trading or handling of a product. See also: Supply chain mapping; Shipment/transaction-based mapping. |
Backward tracing | A traceability approach triggered from the downstream end, where traceability data is collected retroactively back to source. See also: Forward tracking; |
Book and Claim | A chain-of-custody model in which sustainability attributes or claims are traded separately from the physical flow of material. |
Chain of Custody (CoC) | The system of controls, records and procedures used to transfer materials and associated claims or attributes through a supply chain. |
Controlled Blending | A chain-of-custody model that allows controlled mixing of materials under defined rules while preserving the integrity of associated claims. |
Controlled Mass Balance | A mass-balance chain-of-custody model with additional controls or restrictions on the system boundary, accounting period or claim allocation. |
Conversion factor | A factor used to estimate expected output from input material during processing and to identify implausible yields or potential laundering of non-eligible material. |
Critical Tracking Event (CTE) | An event or activity in the supply chain where traceability data must be captured, such as harvesting, transformation, shipping or receiving. See also: Key Data Element (KDE); |
Cut-off date | A date against which land-use or land-cover status is assessed for a specific requirement, such as 31 December 2020 for EUDR deforestation-free assessment. |
Digital handshake | An automated exchange of information between systems to establish communication protocols and parameters before data transfer, supporting secure transaction verification. |
Digital Product Passport (DPP) | A digital credential or data carrier that provides product identity, provenance, sustainability information and links to traceability events or supporting evidence. |
Double spending | The risk that the same claimed volume or batch is counted, sold or allocated more than once into the downstream supply chain. |
Due Diligence Statement (DDS) | A formal statement submitted by an operator under EUDR to confirm that relevant products meet deforestation-free and legal-production requirements. |
EPCIS | A GS1 standard for capturing and sharing event data about the physical movement and status of products and other traceable objects. |
External traceability | Tracing material as it passes between different independent entities in the supply chain. See also: Internal traceability; |
Forward tracking | A traceability approach in which relevant data is collected and shared with downstream actors as material moves through the supply chain, often in near real time. See also: Backward tracing; |
Geolocation | The geographic coordinates identifying the physical location of a production plot, used to verify origin and assess deforestation or land-use change risk. |
Granularity of origin | The level at which origin can be traced, such as country, sub-region, supply shed, sourcing radius or plot of land. |
Harvest event registry | A registry that assigns unique identifiers to harvest events and captures harvest volumes as a basis for operating a volume ledger. |
Identity Preservation | A chain-of-custody model in which a material or product remains uniquely identifiable and separated from other material through the supply chain. |
Internal traceability | The ability to track and monitor the movement and transformation of parts, materials and products within the boundary of a single organisation, facility or plant. See also: External traceability; |
Interoperability | The ability of two or more systems to exchange data using common formats or protocols so that data can be transmitted and understood consistently. |
Key Data Element (KDE) | A specific data point linked to a critical tracking event that describes what happened, when, where, by whom, and to which product, lot or resource unit. See also: Critical Tracking Event (CTE); |
Land cover change | A detected change in the physical cover of land, such as forest loss, conversion to agriculture or change from vegetation to urban or water classes. |
Marking and identification technologies | Technologies such as QR codes, bar codes, RFID tags, microtaggants or DNA identifiers that help connect data records to physical material. |
Mass Balance | A chain-of-custody model that tracks quantities of eligible input and output across a defined system without necessarily preserving physical separation at every step. |
Ontology | A structured representation of concepts, relationships, properties or constraints that supports semantic interoperability between systems. |
Plot of land | A single contiguous piece of land where a commodity is produced; unconnected areas are separate plots even if under the same owner. |
Production plot registry | A registry that assigns unique identifiers to production plots or farms and supports volume ledgers and volume reconciliation. |
Remote sensing | The use of satellite, aerial or similar geospatial data to assess land cover, land use or land-use change for production areas. |
Risk mitigation workflow | A dedicated tool process for documenting actions taken to reduce or address identified risks before a case can be closed or accepted. |
Segregation | A chain-of-custody model in which certified or eligible material is kept physically separate from non-certified or non-eligible material. |
Shipment/transaction-based mapping | Supply chain mapping performed for a specific shipment or transaction rather than only at a general product or supplier-network level. See also: Supply chain mapping; Actor mapping; Traceability lot code. |
Supply chain mapping | Visualisation of the entities involved in the physical material flow and/or financial transaction flow for a product’s supply chain. See also: Actor mapping; Shipment/transaction-based mapping; Supply shed. |
Supply shed | A defined sourcing area or radius from which material may originate, used where origin is assessed at an area level rather than an individual plot level. |
Traceability | The ability to trace the history, application, origin, processing, distribution or location of a product, material or object through a supply chain. |
Traceability system | A set of processes, data records, identifiers, technologies and controls used to capture, link, verify and share information about the origin, movement, transformation and custody of products or materials across a supply chain. |
Traceable Resource Unit (TRU) | The smallest unit of material or product that can be uniquely identified and tracked as it moves through a traceability system. |
Vocabulary | A defined set of terms and meanings used to ensure that parties use the same words for the same concepts. |
Volume ledger | A record system used to track claimed, transferred, processed and remaining material volumes, helping to prevent double counting or double spending. |
Volume reconciliation | The process of comparing input, output and remaining volumes to check whether material flows are plausible and complete. |
