Through the initiative, Alibaba intends to increase accuracy and transparency through its supply chain network, enabling users of its subsidiaries Tmall and Lynx to authenticate, verify and record data throughout the shipping process.

A large part of Alibaba’s e-commerce operation in China is the delivery of foodstuffs and produce. Australian vitamin brand Blackmores and New Zealand-based dairy supplier Fonterra are partnering with Alibaba to be the first to try the Food Trust Framework, shipping products to China via Alibaba’s Tmall Global platform.

The company says the primary goals of the initiative are to promote transparency between partners within the supply chain and prevent “food fraud” — the act of corrupting food cargo in the form of unapproved additives, misbranding, unintentional contamination or theft.

At the end of last year, JD.com premiered a similar project, Blockchain Food Safety Alliance, within its network in partnership with Walmart, IBM and Tsinghua University National Engineering Laboratories for e-commerce technologies. The initiative shares the goal of increasing food safety and transparency.

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