Electronic coding of products can help stop trade in fake or tainted drugs, an expert on radio-frequency identification (RFID), said yesterday.

Henri Barthel, coordinator of Bridge, a European Union-funded Integrated Project designed to perform research on RFID, said electronic tagging and bar codes allow for real-time monitoring of the distribution process of pharmaceutical goods.

"Such a tool is all the more important during these times when fake drugs are posing as big threats to consumers," Barthel told the 2009 RFID International Conference in Seoul yesterday, organized by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).

High tracking costs and the complexities of meeting international standards have been a long-standing headache for the pharmaceutical industry.

"We are now conducting a project aimed at adopting a globally shared system for the GS1, Electronic Produce Code so that it can carry all important information, such as the product code, serial numbers, and the best-before-date for all the pharmaceutical products being distributed worldwide," Barthel said.

The EPC created by the MIT Auto-ID Center, a consortium of over 120 global corporations and university labs. The EPC system is currently managed by EPCglobal Inc., a subsidiary of GS1, creators of the UPC barcode.

Gay Whitney, an executive of GS1, added that RFIDs have helped the total of 91 Metro stores in France improve efficiency by also establishing a link with DHL's six main hubs.

The electronic tagging system placed on as many as 1.3 million palettes have helped reduce product maintenance time by 15 percent, from the point of storage to truck loading. The operational efficiency of distributing and categorizing products once products reach the retail outlet has risen 50 percent, Whitney said.

The KCCI said this year's RFID conference allowed experts to share global issues and exchange opinions.

By Yoo Soh-jung