Senate: DoD Suppliers Must Act vs. Counterfeits; A Solution Is At Hand, Applied DNA Sciences Poised to Act
December 06 2011 - 7:50AM
Marketwired
Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (OTCBB: APDN) announces that a readily
available, proven solution is at hand for the national crisis of
counterfeit electronics now flooding the U.S. military supply
chain. After a heated Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on
November 8th, the Senate approved an amendment that requires large
defense contractors to establish systems for detecting and avoiding
counterfeit parts, among many other strict provisions. The hearings
had identified specific missile systems, aircraft, and combat
support systems that have been infiltrated by counterfeit parts.
In light of the new proposed legislation, APDN emphasizes that
it is ready to offer just such a system, which can ramp up and
scale quickly. The company is already engaged in piloting the only
anti-counterfeiting technology currently funded by the agency that
manages the military supply chain, the Defense Logistics
Agency.
The APDN system marks microchips with uncopyable DNA codes,
which can then be used to authenticate the originality of chips
anywhere along the supply chain.
Staying true to their promise to legislate a solution to this
crisis that is a clear and present danger to national security,
Senators Levin and McCain introduced bi-partisan legislation,
"S.AMDT.1092: to bolster the Detection and Avoidance of Counterfeit
Electronic Parts," last week in the FY'12 National Defense
Authorization Act (S.1867). The amendment was accepted and the
legislation passed in the U.S. Senate last week by an overwhelming
97-3 margin.
The Levin-McCain amendment is the toughest legal measure against
counterfeiting of critical electronic parts in recent memory, and
includes new provisions that:
- Require large defense contractors to establish systems for
detecting and avoiding counterfeit parts, and it authorizes
reductions in contract payments to contractors who fail to do
so.
- Require contractors for the first time to absorb the costs of
fixing the problem when counterfeit parts are discovered, rather
than deferring such costs to the Defense Department.
- Require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish
enhanced inspection of electronic parts.
- Require DoD to adopt policies and procedures for detecting and
avoiding counterfeit parts in its direct purchases, and for
assessing and acting on reports of counterfeits.
- Require military officials and contractors who learn of
counterfeit parts in the supply chain to provide written
notification to the contracting officer, the Department of Defense
Inspector General and to the Government-Industry Data Exchange
Program.
The APDN technology can indeed "enhance inspection," and goes
much farther to actually forensically verify originality. Botanical
DNA is used to create taggants to mark the product in a unique way.
The DNA could be added to ink that is used to print lot code, for
example. At any node in the supply chain the chip may be tested for
the presence of the DNA marker, which can then be submitted for
forensic tests to determine originality.
Dr. James A. Hayward, President and CEO of Applied DNA Sciences,
commented: "I applaud the U.S. Senate for their aggressive action
to address this national security crisis. If this legislation
becomes law, it will make everyone in the electronics industry
adhere to an aggressive time frame to put in place
anti-counterfeiting detection. Our company brings years of proven
experience in combating the crisis of counterfeits in our military
supply chain. We are one of only a handful of entities ready,
willing and able to provide the core of the solution demanded by
the new law."
About APDN
APDN sells patent-protected DNA security solutions to protect
products, brands and intellectual property from counterfeiting and
diversion. SigNature DNA is a botanical mark used to authenticate
products in a unique manner that essentially cannot be copied, and
provide a forensic chain of evidence that can be used to prosecute
perpetrators. To learn more, go to www.adnas.com where APDN
routinely posts all press releases.
The statements made by APDN may be forward-looking in nature.
Forward-looking statements describe APDN's future plans,
projections, strategies and expectations, and are based on
assumptions and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, many
of which are beyond the control of APDN. Actual results could
differ materially from those projected due to our short operating
history, limited financial resources, limited market acceptance,
market competition and various other factors detailed from time to
time in APDN's SEC reports and filings, including our Annual Report
on Form 10-K, filed on December 15, 2010 and our subsequent
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. APDN undertakes no obligation to
update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new
information, events or circumstances after the date hereof to
reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
INVESTOR CONTACT: Debbie Bailey 631-444-8090 fax: 631-444-8848
MEDIA CONTACT: Mitchell Miller fax: 631-444-8848 Email Contact FCMN
Contact: Email Contact Web site: http://www.adnas.com Twitter:
@APDN, @APDNInvestor
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