Contract E-Negotiation in Agricultural Supply Chains

Supply chains are made up of distributed, heterogeneous, and autonomous elements in a dynamic relationship with one another. Agricultural supply chains are strictly regulated to ensure food safety and multi-level traceability. Contracts in such chains need sophisticated specification and management of chain agents to ensure auditability. A framework that attacks these problems is proposed. It is centered on three elements that support and manage agent interactions: contracts, coordination plans (i.e., business processes), and regulations (i.e., business rules). The main contributions are (1) a contract model suitable for agricultural supply chains, (2) a negotiation protocol able to produce contracts, and (3) negotiation implementation via Web services. Interoperability among chain processes is fostered by maintaining independence between business processes and contract negotiation.