FOOD SAFETY: UCBM COORDINATES CUSTOMICS, THE EUROPEAN PROJECT THAT BRINGS GENOMICS, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AND CYBERSECURITY TO BORDERS TO COMBAT FRAUD AND STRENGTHEN PHYTOSANITARY SURVEILLANCE

Thanks to the synergy between the faculties of Science and Biotechnology and Engineering, and funded by the European Union with almost three million euros, the project will develop and test an integrated platform on tomato seeds for faster, more reliable, and traceable customs controls.  

Rome, 18 September 2026 - Making seed controls at European borders faster, more reliable, and safer, combating fraud and counterfeiting while strengthening phytosanitary surveillance by integrating genomics, metagenomics, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity systems into a single operational workflow. This is the goal of CUSTOMICS, a European project coordinated by the Campus BioMedico University of Rome (UCBM). Funded by the European Union with almost three million euros and lasting three years, CUSTOMICS brings together customs authorities, universities, research centers, and companies from four European countries.  

The project will start with tomato seeds, a crop with high economic and commercial value, to develop a model that can subsequently be extended to other plant species. Counterfeit or illegally traded seeds can harm producers and the market, compromise the traceability of varieties, and increase the risk of introducing and spreading unwanted organisms. CUSTOMICS therefore aims to transform customs control from a predominantly document-based process to a system supported by biological, digital, and predictive data. A multidisciplinary approach and One Health thanks to the synergy between the two faculties UCBM of Sciences and Bio-Technologies and Engineering, the project was born from the synthesis of skills in plant biology, microbiology, genomics, bioinformatics, automation, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.  

The global circulation of goods and the effects of climate change are altering the landscape of phytosanitary risks and making it increasingly important to have tools capable of rapidly identifying anomalies, contamination, and potential threats along the supply chain. Protecting the entry and circulation of seeds therefore contributes to the protection of agricultural production, biodiversity, and supply chain safety. 

"CUSTOMICS adopts a “One Health” approach, recognizing that plant health, environmental health, food safety and public health are closely interconnected.. – said the professor Vittoria Locato, president of the course of study in Food Sciences and Human Nutrition UCBM  Preventing harmful pathogens and fraudulent seed material from entering the EU helps protect agricultural production and biodiversity, while reducing risks to food systems and strengthening consumer confidence. For years, as UCBM We work in the field of plant biotechnology, seeking solutions to address global issues such as plant resilience to climate change, promoting biodiversity, and food security. Today, thanks to a truly multidisciplinary approach, we can develop advanced methodological tools to protect the agricultural supply chain and safeguard against phytosanitary threats.From seed sequence to faster decision making.  

The platform will integrate next-generation sequencing (NGS), portable genomic technologies, metagenomic analyses, artificial intelligence algorithms, and secure digital infrastructure. The goal is to provide operators with tools capable of supporting, within timeframes compatible with border control requirements, the verification of varietal identity and seed traceability, and the characterization of any associated microorganisms, including potential plant pathogens.With portable sequencing and metagenomics, we can transform a semen sample into useful information in hours, not days. The goal of CUSTOMICS is to bring genomics out of the laboratory and make it a practical tool for surveillance and prevention at the border..” - he claims Marta Giovanetti, professor of theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma.

The data produced by the researchers' analyses UCBM They will be merged into a digital platform shared by customs authorities, phytosanitary authorities, and other entities involved in controls. Here, artificial intelligence algorithms will correlate the genomic results with commercial information and previously documented cases of fraud in European countries, identifying recurring anomalies such as suppliers, routes, and suspicious batches, and assigning a risk level to each shipment to guide controls. UCBM leads the development of this prototype European database for reporting and managing fraud and the infrastructure that ensures its security, integrity and traceability.

"At customs, the challenge isn't just analyzing a sample, but quickly deciding which batch is worth checking. Artificial intelligence serves precisely this purpose: it learns from confirmed cases of fraud and cross-references them with genomic and commercial data, identifying anomalies, and suggesting a justified and verifiable priority for inspection to the inspector. For an algorithm to withstand the rigors of an enforcement procedure, however, the data it processes must be intact, protected, and traceable: this is the least visible part of the work, and it's what makes everything else usable.." – he adds Gabriele Oliva, associate professor of the degree course in Intelligent Systems Engineering.  

For Dr. Paola Giovannini Pasti, President of Confagricoltura Donna, "Made in Italy agri-food products, recognized and appreciated worldwide for their high standards of reliability, originate from an element as small as it is precious: the seed. An element with its own history that must be preserved. chiara and accessible, to safeguard food quality and safety. Seed traceability certainly represents a safeguard for consumers, but also for producers, who need to know the raw materials they're working with. Furthermore, their quality guarantees equal quality to production, as well as resilience to adversity. In this regard, new genomic techniques can accelerate the selection of increasingly high-performance varieties, boosting the competitiveness of agricultural businesses. Confagricoltura has always considered science and research to be essential allies, and therefore, in this area too, it favors genomic seed identification and pathogen screening tools that can be used in customs controls. We are on the front lines, alongside our farmers, collaborating with all operators involved in the supply chain, to ensure legal and traceable seeds.".  

The kick-off in Rome

On September 17th and 18th theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma hosts the CUSTOMICS kick-off, an opportunity for discussion between the project's scientific and technological partners and representatives of the institutions and the seed sector.  

Guests at the round table include Maurizio Martina, Deputy Director General of the FAO; Paola Giovannini Pasti, President of Confagricoltura Donna; Antonio Villarroel López de la Garma, general manager of ANOVE; Antonio Vaccaro, IESE Business School – University of Navarra; Walter Sanseverino, CEO of Sequencia; Montserrat García-Moncó Fuente, Head of the Legal & Governance Affairs Unit of the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO); Salvatore Gaglione, Commercial Director of Enza Zaden Italia; and Gianplacido Di Rosa, senior breeder of the same company.  

For UCBM participate in the project Vittoria Locato, Marta Giovanetti, Laura De Gara, Eugenio Benvenuto, Sara Cimini e Gianfranco Pannella for the Faculty of Science and Biotechnology, and Gabriele Oliva e Luca Faramondi for the Faculty of Engineering.  

Over the three-year project period, the workflow developed on tomato seeds will be validated under operational conditions and evaluated in terms of speed, scalability, reliability, and transferability.  

The ambition is to build a replicable model for other crops and help strengthen the European Union's capacity to prevent and manage biological and economic threats related to the seed trade.