In 2006, the White Paper on China's Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology Policy jointly issued by 15 ministries and commissions including the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Information Industry pointed out that the current RFID technology and application are developing rapidly, but it is not yet mature. It is necessary for China to seize this opportunity. Focus on the research and development of RFID core technology, formulate technical standards in line with China's national conditions, promote the construction of an independent public service system, and promote the formation of a competitive industrial chain, so that China has a place in this field.
Today, a few years later, the situation seems a bit embarrassing: China has the world's largest potential RFID application market, but no core RFID technology and products, and no own standards. Due to the lack of uniform standards, the frequency, coding, storage rules and data content of RFID products used by different domestic enterprises are not the same. Readers and tags cannot be used universally. Enterprises cannot smoothly exchange data and work together, thus limiting The application range of RFID technology in China.
The food and food traceability industries are all weak and emerging application areas of RFID technology, and the lack of technical standards has become a huge obstacle to the promotion of RFID food traceability systems in China. However, in the context of increasing food safety concerns, RFID technology provides a way for food to be traceable, and as more and more RFID companies begin to join the industry, RFID standards for the food industry are on the horizon.
Formulating RFID standards brings "three wins"
The main purpose of RFID technology standardization is to solve the problems of coding, communication, air interface and data sharing by formulating, publishing and implementing standards, and to maximize the application and implementation of RFID technology and related systems. Lin Meifang, senior research director at SGS Enterprise Research and Development, believes that traceability and monitoring of the supply chain will not be possible without a standardized RFID system.
Qian Heng, member of the International Organization for Standardization ISO/IECJTC1/SC31 (Barcode Automatic Identification Technical Committee) and vice president of the Shandong Institute of Standardization, told the China Electronics News that for the food industry, the development of RFID standards has improved the food industry. The effect of the level of informatization is obvious. In addition, it is of great practical significance to promote the standardization, standardization and intensive development of the food industry, promote the integration of resources in the food industry and RFID industry, and industrial concentration.
“Food industry companies contribute to the implementation of this standard on the one hand, and on the other hand, they will enjoy the convenience brought by this standard,†said Li Yibin, an RFID center engineer at the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In his view, the establishment of RFID technology standards in the food industry will have a "three wins" effect. For RFID manufacturers, RFID standards are both the yardstick for acting and the driving force for their development, and they will also bring new opportunities for development. For the country, the establishment of such standards is of great significance to the construction of food safety credit system, the traceability of food safety, the prediction and handling of food safety crisis, and the fight against bioterrorism. For consumers, the introduction of RFID standards can not only ensure that you can eat with confidence, but once a food safety crisis occurs, you can also lock the problem nodes in the first time to ensure timely recovery.
Not only that, in the field of food traceability, RFID technology as an emerging technology carrier and data interface, can also quickly and effectively promote the formation of China's food Internet of Things.
According to Qian Heng, the National Food Traceability Technology Subcommittee has preliminarily formulated the framework of China's food traceability standard system, which is divided into general layer, base layer and special layer. However, he pointed out that although the number of enterprises in the food industry in China is large, the scale is small, and there is no leading backbone enterprise that specifically applies RFID technology and food traceability management mode. The lack of independent research and development and innovation capabilities, and the temporary application of scale-intensity advantages have become the bottleneck of RFID standardization in China's food industry.
Qian Heng said that the lack of RFID standards makes food companies have no standard to rely on when testing RFID technology. The inconsistency of RFID standards can easily lead to incompatibility of RFID interfaces between enterprises, resulting in a “three disadvantages†situation, which is not conducive to food. The application and promotion of RFID technology in the field of traceability is not conducive to the large-scale development and field expansion of RFID technology vendors, which is not conducive to the rapid formation of food Internet of Things.
RFID standards must be developed as soon as possible
In the interview, Lin Meifang revealed that foreign RFID standards have been widely used in many fields in China. “Developed countries often seize the commanding heights of the Chinese market by mastering the dominance of international standards, and have accumulated a large number of core technologies and patents. There are very few enterprises with independent intellectual property rights in China's RFID industry,†she said.
Some insiders pointed out that the current RFID international standards are still in the stage of continuous revision and development, and the final pattern is far from being formed. This provides a good external environment for China's RFID standard system for developing independent intellectual property rights.
Qian Heng pointed out that the formulation of RFID standards in China's food industry should give full play to the advantages of government departments, enterprises and research institutes, rely on the huge domestic RFID application market, strengthen the intensity of independent innovation, and find new technologies and applications in the field of RFID; Take the government as the mainstay, enterprises and research institutes as the main body, technology innovation as the foundation, market and application-oriented, and cutting-edge technology as the breakthrough RFID standard development strategy.
The development of RFID technology standards in various industries should be based on market and application, and the food industry is no exception. With the increasing and deepening of RFID applications in China's food industry, the standardization process of food RFID tag packaging, application environment, frequency, and the construction of readers, middleware, and RFID-based platform systems requires unified coordination. And planning. "The key is to capture common, innovative and even core technical content with the right to speak and independent intellectual property rights in the field of international standardization." Qian Heng said. He stressed that this work is very meaningful and arduous, requiring standard-setting units, food companies, and RFID companies to conduct research and implementation at the national or international level.
Compared with other industries, RFID in the food industry has its own unique characteristics, because different types of foods have different requirements for temperature, humidity, transportation conditions and business processes, and are subject to international and domestic food safety standards.
In this regard, Li Yibin suggested: First of all, the standards should be different for different types of food. Second, organic standards for food safety must be considered when developing standards. Finally, it must be in line with international standards. He reminded that at the beginning of the development of RFID standards, it is necessary to consider the implementation level.