In 2008, CASCO initiated a series of workshops to be held in conjunction with its plenary meetings. Last year the workshop addressed the question of market surveillance. This year, the theme of the workshop will be the role of International Standards in managing the global supply chain and traceability. This theme is seen as a natural continuation of the previous one as the global background is identical: increase of international trade in terms of value and volume, and need to safeguard the interests of the stakeholders (economic, health and safety, and environmental interests).

The supply chain is a key component to the economy as it literally links all the economic players, from raw material to finished product, from farm to fork, from business to consumer. This is even more true when the supply chain is considered global.

In order to respond to the need of protecting their populations, some governments have already taken measures vis-à-vis the supply chain and this is the obligation of maintaining a traceability system (for example the European Directive 178/2002/EC).

The financial aspect is also a driver for good logistics organizations, and the efficiency of the supply chains can achieve important savings. The market is already widely using International Standards in this regard (example of the ISO pallet, or standardized freight containers).

The 2009 workshop will aim to:

• Identify the areas which could be addressed by ISO at the international level;
• Determine if there is a sufficient consensus on a potential need for international level of work on global supply chain management and related matters (traceability for instance). The outcome of this work could be an additional International Standard, a Guide, or another type of document;
• Determine if and how ISO/CASCO can contribute to the improvement of the quality of the practices in the global supply chain.