RFID EPC Drug Imports

Comments for the Task Force on Drug Importation: Secure Symbology, Inc. is offering comments to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Task Force on Drug Importation as charged by HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson to study what it would take in terms of oversight and resources to safely import drugs ...

... "We recognize that the ultimate goal of RFID, through its data carrier, the Electronic Product Code (EPC™), is to serialize every manufactured product down to the item level. But because of the huge infrastructure costs, high tag costs, questions concerning ISO standards, hacking and privacy concerns, implementation to the items level is, by most standards, 5 – 10 years away. The ability to track, trace and provide an electronic database and an electronic pedigree cannot wait 5-10 years for item level serialization while U.S. states, counties and it’s citizens bring pharmaceutical products in from Canada and other foreign countries. DOD and Wal-Mart driven mandates may elicit some success in the next few years at the container and/or pallet level, but even at this level, data synchronization still is a major issue." ...