Source of Truth (SoT)

Source of Truth registries

Enormous amounts of energy and intelligence are invested in maximising the outputs from on-farm production in the Australian red meat industry. Advanced breeding and genetics. Reproductive efficiency. Herd health and biosecurity. Pasture and feed management. The list goes on.

Despite the fact that we have had some record years of exports to foreign countries like the USA, we are still allowing tonnes of quality product to be held up, rejected and even destroyed at ports of entry because of something as seemingly straightforward as a carton label.

Australia ranks amongst the top ten countries for refused entry of beef consignments to the USA, having had rejection rates from 1% to 2.5% between June 2020 and June 2026 (FSIS data). Shipments can be detained, refused entry or even destroyed due to a single data-entry error in supply-chain documentation.

Given we have one of the largest export volumes in the world, that small percentage represents a significant amount, while our largest competitor - Brazil - doesn't even make the top-ten list.

Why? For one thing, deep vertical integration of private processors has allowed those Brazilian companies to exercise very strict controls over the data that travels along their supply chains.

Therein lies a significant opportunity for the Australian red meat industry - and a significant challenge. Being more diverse in makeup, our industry faces greater difficulties in coordinating standardised data across our supply chain.

That's where source of truth (SoT) registries can make a world of difference.

Authoritative, trusted datasets - maintained by industries and governments - SoT registries can be used for decision making by everyone in the public domain, or in a supply chain. They can be used as data validation services to check and verify that data entered into a system is correct before passing it along the supply chain, thus ensuring the data trail remains intact from transfer point to transfer point. These data validation services can operate as search tools (which discover, query, profile, and match data assets across systems), or they can be used as check tools (which test data against internal rules, constraints, and schemas, returning only true or false results).

APIS or Web UIs?

Some of these services are web-based search portals that rely on manual web-browser lookup tools or downloadable lists - either way, they are reliant on human interaction through a Web User Interface (UI). Others operate via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that enable computer systems or machines to communicate, one to another. APIs can be publicly available or "open", or they can be restricted, giving access only to registered accounts or members.

Examples of supply-chain SoT registries.

A number of SoT registries have been established to support global trade. These include such directories as the global LEI register, that provides unique, standardised identification codes for every legally registered entity participating in international financial and trade transactions. Commercially funded registries include the many shipping-container-lookup services provided by shipping lines themselves, for tracking and tracing container movements. Simply enter the Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC), the Bill of Lading (BL) number, the Shipping Instruction (SI) number or the booking number into one of more than 200 of these services, and you will be served up details about the date, time and location of loading, the vessel identity, the code-number and direction of the voyage, and the size and type of container.

These directories are crucial for ensuring that financial and international trade information (Key Data Elements or KDEs) are able to be validated as structurally compliant and then verified as true at specific points (Critical Tracking events or CTEs) in the journey of a product (like a meat consignment) or a transaction (like a funds transfer).

Untapped decision-making data in the red meat supply chain.

As of 2026, around 75% of beef exports to the USA - and almost 40% of sheep, lamb and goat meat - are being managed through the Meat Messaging platform.

It's an industry program, administered by AUS-MEAT, that gives registered Australian exporting establishments the ability to manage meat consignments from end to end, with authentication, verification and traceability of their meat products built in. The message information that is uploaded to the Meat Messaging portal is the same information that can be accessed on the physical cartons, cases and carcases, with barcode scanning supported through a progressive web app (PWA).

Users can access a range of data that tells them everything from how much an establishment has exported and how much of their consignments have been refused entry to how they rank against other, de-identified suppliers, how Australia ranks against the rest of the world and why shipments are being held up or rejected.

All the critical data for every Meat Messaging shipment is held on the platform and can even be used to track each shipment, by entering the relevant data into the listed shipping line's lookup tool, as described above.

Meat Messaging is not a Source of Truth but relies on SoT registries such as the GS1 Registry for Global Location Numbers, Global Trade Item Numbers and Serial Shipping Container Codes (SSCCs), the AUS-MEAT Establishment Register, the DAFF Export Establishment Register and the Health Certificate Register.

The platform is a goldmine of information and management tools for the red-meat supply chain but is unfortunately under-utilised. When used well, it can help avoid supply-chain loss through rectification of invalid shipping marks, QA monitoring and more. As it currently stands, users of the platform have had 8.5 tonnes of red meat rejected in the financial year 2025-26.

When you consider the inputs required to get every kilogram from paddock to port, that's a very expensive failure rate.

With more efficient use of red-meat-supply-chain data standards, and more uptake of the Meat Messaging platform, we can all work together to make Australia one of the 'least refused' countries for red meat exports.