Jan 22, 2007__EPCglobal has recently announced the ratification of the Electronic Pedigree Document (e-Pedigree) specification. This 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 e-Pedigree document schema as well as an e-Pedigree envelope schema that companies can use as a way of holding multiple e-Pedigrees together in a single document for electronic transmission. 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, which 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.

source:  www.usingrfid.com