The system, proposed in 2011 and aimed at combating counterfeit drugs and improving transparency in drug exports and pharmaceutical supply chain, has been meeting repeated challenges stemming from difficulties within the industry and representation from the industry leaders. Technical obstacles and concerns regarding system readiness have contributed to this hurdle.

In the February issue of Authentication & Brand News™, we asked whether EU digital product passports (DPPs) could double as anti-counterfeiting devices, in addition to their primary role of gathering information about a product and its supply chain in order to support the transition to a circular economy.

Science and technology group Merck and micro-transponder producer p-Chip Corp have formed an alliance to use p-Chip’s technology as a crypto-anchor (unique identifier) for creating digital twins of physical products, allowing them to be tracked and authenticated through the supply chain.

As the world’s largest sporting goods retailer – in addition to manufacturing its own sports products – Decathlon has revolutionised its operations over the past 10 years by implementing radio frequency identification (RFID) technology on every piece of merchandise in its vast inventory.

In August, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a one-year delay in enforcing the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) electronic tracking rules until November 2024, in order to provide a 12-month stabilisation period to aid compliance.

A number of key themes emerged from the presentations, panel discussion, and workshops at the recent Tax Stamp & Traceability Forum™ (TSTF) held in October, in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The Australian government has announced another AUD 11 million ($7 million) in funding via grants to boost Australia's agricultural traceability systems.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have introduced a pilot traceability programme to track the origin and carbon footprint of each dragon fruit planted in the southern province of Bình Thuận, Vietnam.

International security technology group Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) has acquired MECOMO AG, a specialist in tracking and tracing solutions, with the contract signed in May.

India’s pharmaceutical industry is vital to global healthcare as it is the largest supplier of low-cost generics, vaccines, and affordable HIV medicines, as well as the third largest supplier in terms of volume, and 14th in terms of value.