PUBLISHED 2017

HDA’s Guidelines for Bar Coding in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain provides specifications for bar coding and labeling healthcare products.

Given the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) requirement to affix product identifiers to prescription drug products in 2017, the bar code has become increasingly important for moving products efficiently in a serialized world. Developed by the HDA Bar Code Task Force, these updated guidelines address the components and construction of a product identifier, with a standard method for affixing it. The guidelines reflect changes to industry terminology and include updated and expanded content related to serialized and non-serialized product. It outlines the interaction between the NDC, FDA bar code rule, and DSCSA, and more closely aligns with GS1, in which application identifiers are used.