It appears that a truce over dueling transponder standards for returnable containers and pallets may be here. The automatic data capture industry has been split into two camps over different radio frequency identification (RFID) standards. One side supported an industrial tag called MH10.8.4, used by organizations such as the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG). The other side was pushing a retail industry initiative to create a new standard called "GTAG."

The champion of GTAG, the Uniform Code Council Inc. (UCC) in Lawrenceville, N.J., has withdrawn its proposal for a separate tag to the International Standards Organization (ISO) committee that oversees the standards. Instead, the UCC said, it would support a "merged" standard.

In short, says Steve Halliday, chairman of the ISO committee, "It means that MH10 and GTAG are all compatible with each other. You can do it all with one tag." A final standard is expected by early next year.