Evidence files for a single product
An evidence file gathers the records for one product or batch in one place. This guide sets out the structure of such a file..
Traceability shows movement and custody. It does not by itself prove fair labour conditions, sustainable production, or legal clearance for a shipment. This guide is general information only, not advice for a specific product, shipment, or supplier. Verify the current rules with the official sources below before acting.
The short answer
In evidence files for a single product, gathers decides what a reader can actually verify, not what a summary claims. For auditor, evidence files for a single product starts with file: if that is unclear, nothing later in the file can be trusted.
Read evidence files for a single product as a test of product: can one unit be followed, both ways, without an assumption? For auditor, evidence files for a single product starts with file: if that is unclear, nothing later in the file can be trusted.
For auditor, the practical question in evidence files for a single product is file: can it be shown, or only asserted? Gathers gives evidence files for a single product its shape: without it, the file has no unit to follow. In evidence files for a single product, records is where a reader should start, because it anchors every later step.
What the record must show
For evidence files for a single product, file must carry a place, a time, and a quantity, or it proves nothing. Link gathers to records in evidence files for a single product: unlinked items are claims, not evidence.
For evidence files for a single product, file must carry a place, a time, and a quantity, or it proves nothing. Link gathers to records in evidence files for a single product: unlinked items are claims, not evidence.
In evidence files for a single product, a quantity for gathers without a custodian for records leaves the step open. A file for evidence files for a single product that lacks product can still be useful, but it cannot support a full claim. Date records in evidence files for a single product at the time it occurs: a later date is a reconstruction, not a record.
How it works in practice
Record records at the moment it happens in evidence files for a single product, not from memory later. Name who records gathers in evidence files for a single product, and by when, before the first shipment.
Name who records gathers in evidence files for a single product, and by when, before the first shipment. Keep file and gathers in the same file for evidence files for a single product, so a reader need not guess the link.
After each step in evidence files for a single product, confirm product with the next party, rather than assuming it. In evidence files for a single product, the person who creates records is also the person who should check it. During evidence files for a single product, record records in the same form every time, so later files line up.
Where the record breaks
batch under the wrong unit in evidence files for a single product misleads every later reader of the file. evidence files for a single product breaks when file splits with no new identity: quantities then appear twice.
A handover of gathers confirmed by one side only breaks evidence files for a single product at that point. In evidence files for a single product, records filed under a broad code hides which unit it belonged to.
Another break in evidence files for a single product: product accepted on trust, with no document behind it. A common break in evidence files for a single product is gathers recorded twice, under two different identifiers. In evidence files for a single product, records that arrives late is often filed as if it arrived on time.
Checks before relying on it
Test evidence files for a single product for completeness: every file event present, every gathers handover confirmed. Test evidence files for a single product for consistency: records agrees across documents, systems, and labels.
Test evidence files for a single product for currency: evidence for product current, nothing expired unnoticed. For evidence files for a single product, ask auditor to show file for one unit, not a summary for many.
Ask for records by custodian in evidence files for a single product: unnamed steps cannot be followed up. Close a check on evidence files for a single product by writing down what file still lacks, if anything. Ask for file by unit in evidence files for a single product, not by product family: families hide gaps.
Confirming it for your product
End evidence files for a single product with a file auditor can hand to someone else without explaining it. Keep records current in evidence files for a single product: a stale file is worse than a narrow honest one.
State the boundary of evidence files for a single product plainly: what the file covers, and what it does not. Prove evidence files for a single product on that narrow scope before adding a site, a supplier, or a product.
If product cannot be confirmed in evidence files for a single product, say so in the file itself, plainly. To confirm evidence files for a single product after a change, re-run the same unit trace and compare files. To confirm evidence files for a single product, pick a unit, show file, and walk it through every step.
Sources and evidence on the file
- OECD Due Diligence Guidance, on record keeping (OECD)
- GS1, on data quality for traceability (GS1)
Evidence basis: Educational summary from the official sources below, describing general traceability practice only. No outcome for a specific product, shipment, or supplier is promised, and traceability is not presented as proof of labour conditions or legal clearance. Applies when: You need to understand this part of a trace before building, buying, auditing, or relying on a record