Frequently Asked Questions

Are EPC standards finalized?

No. The standards development process is ongoing. The Auto-ID Center developed Class 1 and Class 0 specifications for EPC tags and handed these off to EPCglobal in September 2003. In June 2004, these two specifications completed EPCglobal’s standardization process and became the first EPC standards. In Dec. 2004, EPCglobal’s board approved a single second-generation standard that will eventually replace Class 1 and Class 2. In 2005, EPCglobal ratified the Application-Level Events (ALE) standard for managing EPC data; ALE software, which can process tag data from Gen 1 or Gen 2 EPC tags, provides an interface for filtering and consolidating EPC data from interrogators. EPCglobal also ratified a standard for the Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS), a framework that will allow trading partners to access and share EPC-related information on the EPCglobal Network; as well as an electronic pedigree (e-pedigree) standard, intended to provide the pharmaceutical industry with a common format that supply-chain partners can use to collect pedigree information for tracking medications. EPCIS was ratified in April 2007, while the e-pedigree standard was ratified in January 2007. Additional standards will be created for high-frequency tags and for other applications as the need arises.