1. Today's traceability: development along two axes

1.1 A positive axis of development revealed by crises

What is traceability in 2009? Looking at the articles in the Traçabilité des Techniques de l'Ingénieur treatise (currently almost forty), it's easy to see that traceability is a cross-cutting concept with a dual basis, both normative and legal. Indeed, many of the articles in this treatise contain definitions of traceability derived from standards such as the ISO 9000 series, and from European regulations such as EC regulation 178/2002. A majority of the articles in this treatise show that a traceability system is used to react in the event of non-compliance, and also to justify itself, either in the event of a dispute, or systematically, for example for a chemical analysis. Another point common to all these articles is that the...