Most RxTrace readers will recall that China was an early adopter of drug traceability.  Back in 2007, companies were required to begin printing unique identifiers in linear barcodes on certain drug packages.  The unique identifiers had to be purchased from a government contractor.  The list of drugs grew each year to the point where all drugs were effectively covered by early 2016.  But shortly after that, the whole requirement was suspended (see “China’s Retreat From Pharma Serialization: Will This Become A Global Trend?” and “China Adds Traceability Requirement To CFDA Drug Quality Management Specification”).  Then last summer, a new government agency, the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), posted three draft guidance documents for review and comments (see “China Posts New Draft Pharma Serialization Guidelines”).  Finally, last month, the NMPA published two of those documents in final form, “Implemented on April 19, 2019”.