Provides platform for compliance for drug pedigree laws requiring a document-based approach.

London - 15 January 2007 - GS1 EPCglobal, the independent supply chain standards organisation, today announced the ratification of the Electronic Pedigree Document (ePedigree) specification. This new standard, which initially focuses on pharmaceuticals, will help in the fight against product counterfeiting, by providing the source history and provenance of any individual item.

The standard was developed to help companies that are serialising products, such as drugs, using EPC and RFID technology, to comply with pedigree regulations.

The EPCglobal standard includes an ePedigree document schema as well as an ePedigree envelope schema that companies can use as a way of holding multiple ePedigrees together in a single document for electronic transmission. Industries currently using paper-based pedigree documents will find this standard a useful tool in the combatting counterfeiting and for brand protection across the supply chain.

"This effort marks an important step in ensuring trading partners have an interoperable way to exchange document-based pedigrees for pharmaceuticals and other products," said Chris Adcock, president of EPCglobal Inc. "We extend our thanks to the pharmaceutical supply chain professionals and solution providers who collaborated to develop and test the Electronic Pedigree Document standard. With this standard in place, supply chain participants can begin to comply with document-based pedigree regulations without fear of serious interoperability issues."

Looking to the future, the EPCglobal Healthcare and Life Sciences (HLS) Industry Action Group has begun work to define the requirements to develop a full track and trace system. This approach would be based on the EPCIS (EPC Information Services) standard, which is expected in the first quarter of 2007. It will enable the pedigree information to be shared between trading partners in both directions, as opposed to the limitation of simply passing it from trading partner to trading partner in one direction only. Track and trace has significant value for protecting the integrity of the supply chain and is seen as a more universal approach that can be applied globally and across multiple industries. Refinement and definition of this alternative approach is anticipated in 2007.

About GS1 UK

GS1 UK has driven innovation in the supply chain for over thirty years. It is part of the global GS1 organisation, dedicated to the development and implementation of global data standards and solutions for the supply chain. GS1 standards are the most widely used in the world. GS1 UK helps industry to implement these data standards through the use of bar codes, RFID, Global Data Synchronisation (GDS) and electronic business messaging.
www.gs1uk.org

About EPCglobal Inc

EPCglobal Inc supports the global adoption of the Electronic Product Code as a global standard to enable accurate information and visibility about products in the supply chain.
www.epcglobalinc.org

For more information contact:

Lisa Henshaw or Kirsty Sewter
Fourth Day PR
+44 (0)20 7403 4411

Tom Beston
GS1 UK
+44 (0)20 7655 9000

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