PTI

To trace or not to trace is no longer this question

Traceability is already the law

It requires you to trace all produce one step back as to Who it came from and the load number.

Milestone 1-3 (Past due)

Packing and Repacking operations (directly affected) Anytime a brand label is put into a carton, bag, bin or flat, you are supposed to have a GTIN number assigned to that product/pack configuration.
Retailer and Food Service Purchasers (directly affected) are supposed to be collecting product/pack GTIN numbers from your suppliers. You should tell your suppliers that they need to push the Packing operations to get a system in place. If the packing operation does not do the labeling, the supplier must. It is in everyone's interest to encourage the packing operation to label as soon as possible.
Supply Chain (indirectly affected) Some retailers will require that cases be properly labeled before they will be accepted. If the packing operation refuses to provide compliant labeling, you will have little choice but to do the labeling yourselves. This is by its nature inefficient. Many times there are interior boxes with no outward access. In an extreme situation, your would need to re-stack the cases. In addition, the PTI clearly states that the labeling must be done where the product is packed. But as a practical matter, the distribution layer needs to be able to label non-compliant product.
3rd Party Cold Storage (could be affected) There is likely to be a demand for labeling. Many times the product must be labeled before it is shipped. Storage facilities equipped to perform this service may gain a competitive advantage.

Milestone 4-5 (originally due October 1, 2010; now concurrent with Milestone 6 in 2011)

Packing and Repacking operations (directly affected) A special label must be put on each carton, bin, back or flat packed. This code includes a "unique by date" batch number and your GTIN number. The numbers must be tied in to your traceability record and you must know where each carton came from (field, etc.) and where each carton went (actually this is needed 90 days later for Milestone 6). This milestone requires computers to reasonably accomplish the task.
Retailer and Food Service Purchasers (optionally affected) The idea is that receivers should be ready to scan boxes on receipt. In fact, there are few reasons for them to do this until Milestone 6.
Supply Chain (directly affected) For many chain store accounts, you will need to label any cartons that are not already labeled.
3rd Party Cold Storage (could be affected) Label non-compliant cartons for the customer or hire someone to do it.

Milestone 6 (due 2011)

Packing and Repacking operations (not affected) The packing facility already has this step solved.
Retailer and Food Service Purchasers (optionally affected) The idea is that receivers should be ready to scan boxes on receipt. In fact, there are few reasons for them to do this until Milestone 6.
Supply Chain (directly affected) For many chain store accounts, you will need to label any cartons that are not already labeled.
3rd Party Cold Storage (could be affected) Label non-compliant cartons for the customer or hire someone to do it.