WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association) FVE (Federation of Veterinarians of Europe) UEVP (Union of Veterinary Practitioners of Europe) and FECAVA (Federation of European Companion Animal Veterinary Associations) together represent all the veterinarians in Europe and most of the veterinary practitioners using microchip identification in the rest of the world. As a result we feel that we speak with a powerful voice for the users of this technology.

We have been active in the development of standards for RFID since before the International Standards Organisation became involved and we have continued to be active participants since. The development of the Standards ISO 11784 and 11785 in WG3 was an open process to which all interested parties were invited to participate. Discussions to establish the Standards took a long time and were sometimes vituperative. This vacillation and delay damaged the market. Incompatible systems appeared and were introduced into the market. The uncertainty undermined user confidence and delayed the development of advanced transponders.

Since the introduction of the International Standards the area of RFID has seen a new confidence. The field has expanded with more manufacturers and distributors entering the market. Official identification schemes are now starting to specify the standards and the public is beginning to have confidence that a microchip made by one manufacturer will be correctly identified in the future even if a different company’s product is used to scan it.

We believe that the overwhelming proportion of users are satisfied with the standards as they are written today and wish to see a period of stability to allow the market in these exciting devices to develop. We believe that all parties had free access to the development process of the standards in WG3 and that any concerns that they had should have been voiced at that time.

We therefore call on the delegates to the SC19 meeting to be held in Frankfurt on 22^nd March to accept the work done by WG3 as described in their report over 1998/1999 (doc WG3/N235rev) and their conclusion that there is no need to interfere with the ISO standards 11784 and 11785 at this time.

Signed

Pierre Choraine – Chief Executive of FVE

Hans-Klaus Dreier – President of WSAVA

Marc Buchet – President of FECAVA

Fred Nind – President of UEVP

Received 2000-02-28