Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act Takes Aim at RFID
About a week ago, the Senate passed S.1082, which is also known as the Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act (the "Act"). The following is a well done report posted by the RFID Law Blog that details a provision included in the Act that strikes a blow to the RFID industry.
Last week, the US Senate passed legislation that reauthorized the federal user fees on pharmaceuticals that help fund the FDA. Buried in the legislation was a provision -- posted earlier on this blog site -- authored by Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, that would require Internet pharmacies selling to US citizens to use tracking technology to minimize the risk of counterfeiting.
An amendment to that language, offered by Senator Michael Enzi of Wyoming, legislates a specific technology solution - and it's not RFID. Indeed, it specifically excludes anti-counterfeiting technologies like RFID or barcodes that require readers, scanners or other devices to verify authenticity -- replacing the FDA's preferred tools with anti-counterfeiting technologies akin to those used on US currency.
I'd highly recommend that you check out the site to read the entire blog post. RFID Update also offers interesting spin in its article New Law Serves as Warning to RFID Industry and cautions that the industry must take Washington and the lobbying scene very seriously if it intends to be a true player. The article states, "While this internet pharmacy provision is unlikely to cause long-term detrimental harm to RFID adoption, it can be viewed as a lesson of what can happen if the industry does not more actively engage with Washington."
The Act has yet to be considered by the United States House of Representatives.
