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As one of its objectives, the WSAVA Microchip Committee has committed to creating awareness, among member countries/organizations, as to the nature, utility, and evolution of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), commonly referred to as 'microchipping'. This objective requires both information collection and dissemination. To fulfill this objective, a survey was created and distributed to WSAVA Member Associations (see attached copy) that had the following goals:

1. Creation of awareness with respect to:

• International RFID standards ISO 11784 and 11785
• The proper use of manufacturer or country codes and to ensure that 999 microchips are not used
• Database consolidation efforts and the existence/efforts of EuroPetNet

2. Information collection

• Overall RFID as well as ISO-standard microchip market penetration, both in national markets as well as global trends
• Incidence of manufacturer versus country code use or the continued distribution of 999 coded microchips
• Database issues, specifically the existence of true national database registries, or the use of manufacturer/distributor versus collaborative database infrastructures

This information would also be very valuable in supporting the committee's representation of user group interests at meetings of the International Standards Organization Working Group 3 (ISO/WG3). This committee has been charged with the responsibility of deriving global standards for RFID technology and is a collaborative effort amongst manufacturers, distributors, and users.

Aggregate Results
The survey was sent to all WSAVA Member/Provisional Member Assembly Members with 32 responses returned. Specific responding WSAVA members were:

Europe - Western
· Austria
· Belgium
· Denmark
· Finland
· France
· Greece
· Netherlands
· Norway
· Sweden
· Switzerland
· United Kingdom

Europe - Eastern
· Czech Republic
· Estonia
· Lithuania
· Poland
· Slovakia

North America
· Canada (BC & Quebec)
· United States

South America
· Argentina
· Chile
· Columbia
· Mexico

Australia
· Australia
· New Zealand

Asia & the Middle East
· Hong Kong
· India
· Israel
· Japan
· Malaysia
· Taiwan

Republic of South Africa

Continental [Regional] Summary/Trends

1. Western Europe

• All distributors respondent countries were ISO exclusive.
• No 999-coded microchips were identified as being used.
• There was a combination (dependent on manufacturer) of both manufacturer and country code use. In all respondent countries, at least one manufacturer was using that country's country code. Datamars was identified as using the country code in all countries that responded to the survey. In 3 countries, all manufacturers use the country code (Denmark, France, & Norway). All other manufacturers in all other countries used their manufacturer codes with one exception: in the UK, Virbac (Ordicam) and Manning, were also using the UK country code although they, together with Datamars, had agreed to replace this with the manufacturer code once the existing stock was depleted.
• While there were single databases available to all manufacturers/distributors in all respondent countries, they were not consistently used by all microchip companies. Often these were administered by the national kennel club and restricted to dogs only.
• While there were no true, national databases in any of the respondent countries, in France the government had assumed the responsibility of code allocation (including the use of the country code) and uniqueness.
• Databases in Finland, France, Greece, and Sweden were not part of the EuroPetNet database; all other respondent countries were.

2. Eastern Europe

• One country (Lithuania) was not using RFID at all. Of the other 4 respondents, 2 (Estonia & Poland) were ISO exclusive and the other 2 (Czech Republic & Slovakia) had both FDX-A (Trovan) and ISO microchips on the marketplace.
• No 999 coded chips were identified as being used.
• There was a combination (dependent on manufacturer) of both manufacturer and country code use. In all markets that Datamars participated in (Czech Republic, Estonia, & Slovakia), the country code was used. No other manufacturers used country codes in the countries that responded.
• Single databases were available in 3 countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, & Poland) but only used by all providers in 2 (Estonia & Poland). In the Czech Republic, the database provider was also a microchip (Datamars) distributor. In the remaining country with an RFID marketplace (Slovakia), the companies ran their own databases.
• No true, national databases exist in any of the respondent countries.
• Only Poland participated in EuroPetNet

3. North America

• One country (Canada) is in active transition between FDX-A and ISO - both products are currently available with a focus on upgrading the reader base to be both forward and backward compatible. USA is currently focused on FDX-A only citing the costs of infrastructure upgrade (i.e., readers) as the major reason not to adopt and implement ISO standard microchips. One provider (AVID) distributes an encryption-protected FDX-A microchip.
• No 999 coded chips were identified as being used.
• Those providers of ISO standard microchips in Canada (AEG & Allflex) used manufacturer codes.
• Single databases were available to all distributors in both countries however, all elected to manage their own database and none were part of the EuroPetNet database.
• No true, national database exists in either country.

4. South America

• Only AVID and Trovan products were identified as being distributed in the 4 responding countries. Trovan only distributed FDX-A while AVID distributed encrypted FDX-A in Columbia (the only product available), and ISO-standard product in Mexico and Argentina.
• No 999 coded chips were identified as being used.
• When distributing ISO-standard product, AVID used their manufacturer code.
• All distributors ran their own databases and none were part of EuroPetNet.
• No true, national database exists in any of the countries that responded.

5. Australia & New Zealand

• In both Australia (New South Wales) and New Zealand, predominantly ISO-standard microchips are being used although FDX-A product is available in some states of Australia (Trovan) and in New Zealand (AVID & Trovan), yet these same 2 companies sell ISO-standard microchips as well. In Australia, the use of ISO-standard microchips was government mandated as of March 1, 2001; however, the only state to enact this legislation was New South Wales (NSW) where microchipping of dogs and cats has been compulsory since June, 2000.
• No 999 coded microchips were identified as being used.
• Only manufacturer codes are currently used; Datamars did begin distributing ISO-standard microchips with the Australian country code but, following clarification of the Australian database expectations, have moved to the use of their manufacturer code.
• NSW in Australia has a central, government-run registry but it is not national in scope. Other, distributor-owned and managed registries exist as well and there is an independent commercial registry run by the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW (Australian Animal Register). New Zealand, which currently has no national registry, uses some of the registries in Australia. None of the countries/databases participated in EuroPetNet.
• No true, national database exists in either country.

6. Asia and the Middle East

• Of the 6 responding countries, India does not have an existing RFID marketplace. In the other 5, only FDX-A products are distributed in Hong Kong, and in the remaining 4, both ISO and FDX-A product are being distributed. The only companies continuing to distribute FDX-A technology were Trovan (Israel & Japan) and AVID (Taiwan).
• No 999 coded microchips were identified as being used.
• Datamars used only country codes (not identified as being present in Taiwan); Destron used their country code in Japan but not in the other 3 markets (Israel, Malaysia, & Taiwan); and Manning and AVID used their country codes in Israel and Japan, respectively. All other ISO providers in the various markets used their manufacturer's code.
• Japan has a database available to all (run by JVMA) but only used by AVID and Datamars. Another database in Japan (Dainippon Seiyaku) is used by Destron as their registry. All other providers in all responding countries owned and managed their own databases. None of the countries/databases participated in EuroPetNet.
• No true, national databases existed in any of the respondent countries

7. Africa

• Only one country responded (Republic of South Africa) and their was only one distributor providing FDX-A microchips and managing their own database that did not participate in EuroPetNet.
• No national database existed.

Summary & Trends

• Adoption and implementation of ISO-standard microchips was well advanced to complete in Western Europe and Australia/New Zealand; achieving market dominance in the Eastern Europe, the Middle-East and Asia; in its infancy in North (Canada) and South America; and non-existent in the United States of America and Africa.
• In those markets that have adopted the ISO-standard as the basis for RFID implementation, healthy market competition existed.
• There were no 999-coded microchips identified as being used in the countries that responded.
• The country code was commonly used in marketplaces with no national database (in direct violation of ISO/ICAR protocol). Many manufacturers were involved in this breech of protocol with Datamars and Manning being the most consistently represented.
• In a number of the countries where only country codes were used, additional code modifications were made to the 15-digit animal ID number and applied to all microchips sold in that country. Examples include:
  Denmark: 528 country code; 3-digit national manufacturer code (Datamars, 210; Destron, 206; Sokymat, 224); 9-digit individual animal ID number
  France: 250 country code; 1-digit to identify animal category (pets, 2); 3-digit national manufacturers code (ABBI, 694; Allflex, 695; Datamars, 696; Ordicam, 697; Destron, 698); 8-digit individual animal ID number.
  Japan: 392 country code; 3-digit national manufacturer code (Datamars, 141; Destron, unknown; AVID, unknown); 9-digit animal ID number
• In none of the responding countries, was the existence of a true, national database* identified.
• France was the only country of all survey respondents (regardless of continent) that currently met the criteria for appropriate use of the country code.
• EuroPetNet has been effective at consolidating databases within both Western and Eastern Europe but there are no participants outside of Europe.
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*For the purposes of this document, a national database is defined as a database that:

• is industry and species neutral
• has been given the responsibility of administering the national database by a national agency with the authority to do so
• has assumed the responsibility of number allocation and verification of uniqueness