Documentation of the Universal Traceability data eXchange format

The Universal Traceability data eXchange (UTX) format was designed to harmonize data elements needed for tracing of food and feed items along complex supply chains. With that, the UTX format will facilitate interoperability between food and feed tracing tools used by authorities on the local, national and European level. The main benefits of the UTX format are to foster data exchange, avoid double work and allow easy visualisation and analysis of traceability data for all relevant actors. The UTX format is a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)-based, machine-readable data exchange format. It is the main result of the EFSA-BfR project on a “Data collection tool for tracing purposes in the context of urgent scientific advice” (DataColl). The published excel file is providing a technical description and documentation of the data elements within the UTX format (e.g. food business operators, products, activities, ...). The UTX JSON schema is published here as well and can be used to produce UTX data files that conform with the specifications. Currently, the UTX JSON schema does not include checks for mandatory data elements (except for mandatory IDs), for controlled vocabulary or for controlled vocabulary types. The documentation file and the schema file will be updated regularly as the UTX format is evolving. The next development steps involve further specifying e.g. mandatory data elements and controllled vocabulary based on the results of using the UTX format in in practice during case studies on biological and chemical contaminations in food and feed. Moreover, data elements for sampling of food and feed will be included based on EFSA's SSD2 standard.