Track-and-trace from September 1: the problem isn't the scanner

From September 1, the list of medical devices under mandatory track-and-trace labeling expands by eight groups. Syringes, masks, wipes, test tubes, infusion sets, and three more that matter more. The trade chats are in a panic, and the problem isn't where everyone is looking for it.

Technically, nothing changes. Scanners, till software, and EDI (electronic document interchange) have been running in pharmacies for years; this is not the first time down this road. Syringes and masks on the list break nothing.

The problem is stock and discipline.

I advise pharmacy chains, take part in developing pricing services for retail, and am affiliated with parso.ru and flexpricer.ru.

Now about the date making the rounds in those same chats. People say you can label existing stock until May 31, 2027. There is no such date in the decree.

Here is what it actually says. Goods placed into circulation through August 31 inclusive may be sold without labeling until their expiry date. Otherwise they are labeled and entered into the system: by August 31, 2027 for items with a shelf life, by February 28, 2027 for items with a service life.

The gap between May 31 and February 28 is three months. The stock you were counting on to carry you through to summer will be frozen back in winter. Check which date your inventory manager is looking at before he plans the next order.

What to get done in August

• A stock count against the list. Not "we've probably got it all," but unit by unit, across each of the eight groups.
• Unlabeled goods: either sell them off by August 31, or label them yourself.
• Move your suppliers onto the UPD (universal transfer document — the combined invoice-and-delivery-note that carries the codes) with codes. The setup is on their side, not yours, so you need to call them today.
• Test sales. A real till, a real code — not a vendor's assurances over the phone.

The third point blows deadlines more often than the rest. You'll fix your own till in a day, but a supplier who is "just about to switch to the new codes" gets waited on for months, and from a pharmacy you have almost no way to move his schedule.

Whoever started in spring will meet September calmly. Whoever remembers this around August 20 will get frozen stock and a queue at the till.

Ready the sleigh in summer.