EPAL believes introducing RFID-enabled systems will improve control of the production and repair of pallets, simplify the authentication of individual pallets and reduce the number of counterfeit pallets in the market.

The first phase of the pilot program, conducted with the assistance of the European division of standards group GS1, developed a business plan for using the technology and explored the infrastructure needed to establish the program. A second phase of testing will occur this year before the rollout of the actual program.

The EURO pallet is standardized and certified by EPAL, with more than 500 million wooden EURO pallets currently in circulation. More than 60 million new pallets a year are produced under EPAL license, and there are more than 1,000 repair centers worldwide.