DSCSA Uniqueness: SNI vs SGTIN…Again

Ahh, summer.  Some years it seems like everyone is on vacation except me.  I usually only take a few days off here and there in the summer, preferring to do longer vacations in other parts of the year.  So next weekend I’m going to take an extra day off, and so there will be no RxTrace essay published next Monday (the Labor Day holiday here in the US), and I’m going to link to one of my favorite essays from the last year this week as the summer winds down.  This essay was posted on October 7, 2018 under the “A Monthly Slice of RxTrace” on the Center For Supply Chain Studies (C4SCS) website.  Unfortunately I haven’t been able to keep up with the “Monthly” part of that title due to time pressures, but there is some great content out there from the last 12 months (see “A Monthly Slice of RxTrace”).  Other than my diverted attention, nothing has changed so I may post more new content on the C4SCS site in the future if I can make some time.

Either way, if you did not read my original essay last October—or even if you did—I highly recommend that you read it (again) now.  This essay raises an issue that will become more prominent if the FDA doesn’t change their interpretation of the DSCSA product identifier definition; namely, the use of a serialized GTIN (SGTIN) in place of a Standardized Numerical Identifier (SNI) for at least verification purposes.  The members of the supply chain and their vendors are using the SGTIN, but last year the FDA said they expect everyone to use the SNI, because that’s what the text of the DSCSA says.

Read my essay and see who you agree with.  Here is the link:  DSCSA Uniqueness: SNI vs SGTIN.  See you back here at RxTrace.com on Monday, September 9, 2019.  Happy Labor Day.

Dirk.