RFID Journal Staff asked 6 years ago I need information about tamper-proof solution to protect consumer goods in 50-kilogram sacks. The issue is that we want to stop counterfeiters from reusing our sacks to package fake products and sell them using our brand name. When we go for routine location checks, how can we detect that our sacks have been used to package products that are not ours? Ultimately, the contents of our sacks will be emptied by the final consumers, but we want to prevent the sacks from being reused by counterfeiters to package their own products and sell them as ours. Counterfeiters can currently empty our sacks sideways, across, diagonally, etc. How can we detect the existence of fake variants (imitation) of our sacks? In a nutshell, we want to ensure that our bags contain only our products at all times.
—Femi
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Femi,
Conventional tamper-evident RFID transponders are labels that are designed to no longer function if they are removed. Removing the label breaks the tag antenna, and it thus no longer functions. Once the tag is no longer being read, you then know that the item has been tampered with. This solution would not work on sacks, however. My suggestion would be a plastic, reusable tag that could be permanently affixed to each sack. Removing it would tear a hole in the sack and spill its contents.
HID Global makes a tamper-evident seal that might work, or perhaps it could be adapted for your needs (see Tamper-Evident Tag Transmits Whether or Not Seal Breaks). Confidex might also have something that would work for you.
—Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal
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