RFID Law Blog

Access this week's industry, legal, and policy news...

| Posted By RFIDblogger In NewsWire! | Permalink | 0 Comments

Several states, including California and Florida, are pursuing ePedigree requirements that may include RFID. There are also more than 20 states considering legislation to regulate RFID in some capacity. The role of the federal government versus that of the states is important for those in the RFID space to understand and determine how best to address their public policy interests. 

If you’re going to be in Washington, DC on Tuesday, June 17^th, you’ll want to check out “Congress vs. the States,” a business regulatory discussion being held at the McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP office at 1900 K Street NW. The event will be chaired by Lawrence Ebner, a partner at McKenna and presenters will include:

• S. William Becker, Executive Director, National Association of Clean Air Agencies
• Ronald A. Cass, Chairman of the Center For the Rule of Law and Dean Emeritus,Boston University School of Law
• Robin S. Conrad, Executive Vice President, National Chamber Litigation Center
• Michael S. Greve, John G. Searle Scholar, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
• Douglas T. Nelson, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, CropLife America
• Raymond C. Scheppach, Executive Director, National Governors Association
• David C. Shonka, Principal Deputy General Counsel, Federal Trade Commission

Registration is free, but make sure to RSVP here by June 9^th, as space is limited. You can view the complete agenda here.

| Posted By RFIDblogger In Drug Chain Security , Federal Legislation , Government Usage of RFID , State Legislation | Permalink | 0 Comments

Access this week's industry, legal, and policy news...

| Posted By RFIDblogger In NewsWire! | Permalink | 0 Comments

Access this week's industry, legal, and policy news...

| Posted By RFIDblogger In NewsWire! | Permalink | 0 Comments

Legislation was introduced this week to require that all US passports be made with only US-manufactured technology, including the RFID-chip.  The text of the bill reads as follows...

| Posted By RFIDblogger In Federal Legislation , Federal Legislation | Permalink | 0 Comments

Access this week's industry, legal, and policy news...

| Posted By RFIDblogger In NewsWire! | Permalink | 0 Comments

Access this week's industry, legal, and policy news...

| Posted By RFIDblogger In NewsWire! | Permalink | 0 Comments

Access this week's industry, legal, and policy news...

| Posted By RFIDblogger In NewsWire! | Permalink | 0 Comments

Earlier today, RFID Update reported being tipped off by Washington State House of Representatives Speaker Pro Tempore Jeff Morris that Governor Chris Gregoire is expected to sign House Bill 1031 in law today. RFID Update’s article can be found here.

Considering that Representative Morris's effort to regulate RFID began with a much more onerous proposal to mandate certain security features and to ban certain RFID applications, this outcome should be considered a success for those interested in the future of RFID. The most important thing, I think, was changing the terms of the debate away from 'how do we regulate the product' to 'how do we regulate the behavior of those seeking to abuse the product'. That's a significant shift in the public policy world. Dan Mullen at AIM is right that, technically, the law is making illegal something that is already illegal - data theft. But this is by far the more desirable outcome than the other option, which looked likely only a year or so ago.

Visit our “State Legislation” section of the blog for more information about this subject.

| Posted By RFIDblogger In State Legislation | Permalink | 0 Comments

According to the San Diego Business Journal, the California State Board of Pharmacy plans to meet tomorrow, March 25^th, to discuss delaying the implementation of the state-imposed drug e-pedigree requirements, set to take effect January 1^st, 2009.  Meanwhile, the FDA is tasked with having federal guidelines in place by 2010. Doug Farry, a managing director at the McKenna Long & Aldridge office in San Diego, was quoted noting the difficulty of enforcing federal standards: “The FDA was really built to regulate the safety and efficacy of drugs.” 

Whatever the state of California is doing will be significantly affected by similar ePedigree efforts being driven at a national level by the FDA. The FDA is not interested in California and 49 other states having their own, separate ePedigree requirements - so, anything that the FDA does in this arena will likely trump the various state efforts. The biggest challenge for FDA, as well as the state regulatory agencies, is how to enforce it. The FDA does not buy or sell drugs, it simply regulates their safety - so how will it enforce a requirement that everyone in the drug pedigree food chain use RFID or any other technology?

The California State Board of Pharmacy has the authority to extend the deadline for up to two years.

You can read our other posts about the California e-Pedigree developments in California and at the federal level here:

Bio, Pharma Companies Seek Extension to ePedigree Deadline in California

FDA Continues to Push for RFID

Court Blocks RFID-Friendly FDA Rules

Report Concludes Supply Chain Security is Good for Business

Liability Issues with RFID for Drug Security?

| Posted By RFIDblogger In Drug Chain Security | Permalink | 0 Comments