Apr 22, 2005This article was originally published by RFID Update.
April 22, 2005—The U.S. Department of Defense has released the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement (DFARS), which outlines the regulations suppliers must follow with respect to shipping the DoD RFID-tagged goods. Published in yesterday's Federal Register, the document represents an important step in the DoD's RFID initiative to introduce track-and-trace functionality across its supply chain. The document was originally due at the end of last May, which represents a delay of almost one year. Those suppliers affected by the DFARS have until June 30 to submit comments about its proposed regulations.
The DoD's RFID mandate, alongside Wal-Mart's, was considered a catalyzing event in RFID. With the projected demand for RFID products and services coming from the 43,000 DoD suppliers affected by the mandate, companies sprung up hoping to capitalize on the opportunity. However, given the delays and slower-than-expected progress on the initiative, industry focus has waned somewhat, with the retail mandates getting the lion's share of attention and press. The hope is that the completion of the DFARS will reinvigorate the DoD initiative and that the roll-out will start to expand far beyond the few depots where modest RFID installations are being tested.
Full text of the DFARS
