Last month the US government issued a 65 page document entitled “2010 Joint Strategic Plan On Intellectual Property Enforcement.” This plan is against counterfeiting and infringement. In it the Federal government lists a number of actions it will take including “We will secure supply chains to stem the flow of infringing products at our borders and through enhanced cooperation with the private sector.”
One of the aspects of this plan is that The Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act is “modified to require that manufacturers, wholesalers and dispensers implement a track-and-trace system, which allows for authentication of the product and creation of an electronic pedigree for medical products using unique identifiers for products. Effective track-and-trace systems can make it more difficult for persons to introduce counterfeit or intentionally adulterated medical products into the U.S. market, make it easier to identify persons responsible for making a product unsafe and facilitate the recall of unsafe products by more quickly identifying where a product is located in the marketplace.”
The Fed’s document however does not describe the fit, form and function of both “unique identifiers” and “track and trace” systems. We know these can vary tremendously. Plus the impact on organisations can be a concern. How will new operational processes and systems change the organisation? What technology will be employed? To what level will track and trace be implemented? Will product identifiers be overt or covert? If the former how will this affect the product packaging and branding? Plus what is the cost of all this?
Fortunately solutions do exist to help answer and manage issues for all the above questions.