The introduction of systems which help surveillance bodies to identify all stages of production and movement of food products - from farm to fork - is an international trend. It allows to control the circulation of food products at the state level, thereby protecting the final customer from purchasing low-quality and potentially dangerous goods.

The Federal State Information System “Mercury” (FSIS “Mercury”) was created by the Rosselkhoznadzor to ensure the traceability system of all animal products in the Russian Federation, both domestically produced and imported. The work of this system is regulated by the Federal Law “On Amendments to the Law of the Russian Federation “On Veterinary Medicine” and certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation” dated July 13, 2015 No. 243-FZ. The movement and circulation of products without registering of all actions in the FSIS “Mercury” is prohibited in accordance with the specified regulations.

FSIS “Mercury” accepts an electronic veterinary certificate or an electronic veterinary accompanying document (eVAD), which is issued at each stage of controlled products movement, as the basis of traceability. The list of FSIS “Mercury” controlled products includes meat and meat products, fish and seafood, food products, honey, non-food products of animal origin, feed and feed additives, live animals. The following categories of data can be traced by eVAD and their chains for products of all the above mentioned types: place of origin, date of production, manufacturer, supplier, volumes of incoming and outgoing products, ratio of types and quantities of raw materials to finished products, expiration dates, transportation and production sites.
As a result, traceability of each batch is created at all stages of the production chain.

As of today, more than 1 million participants in the agricultural product market are registered at the FSIS “Mercury”, creating more than 240 million eVADs each month.

Specialists from a monitoring group of 150 inspectors carry out analysis of electronic veterinary certificates and all the production chains of products of animal origin located in FSIS “Mercury”. Currently, the monitoring group can analyse only 0.03% of the total number of the products’ movement by eVAD, therefore, about 470 thousand inspectors will be required to analyse 100%!
An artificial intelligence model was developed to fully control the eVAD and their chains, its operation will ensure the control over 100% of eVAD, and the number of inspectors will decrease to 54 people (by three times).

Monitoring within the framework of eVAD full control using an artificial intelligence model will minimize the risks of counterfeit and falsified food products incidents in the territory of the Russian Federation, ensure the biological safety of raw materials, as well as products of animal and vegetable origin, increase the level of regulatory and technical support for the production and circulation of agricultural products, increase the export attractiveness of Russian food produce, reduce the dependence on using dubious technologies and raw materials in food production, and increase consumer demand and the quality of life.

The experience gained in implementation of artificial intelligence into the FSIS “Mercury” is supposed to be extended to the traceability system of plant products “Argus-Fito”, which will improve the quality and safety of plant products.