There is no global public body that governs the frequencies used for RFID. In principle, every country can set its own rules for this. The main bodies governing frequency allocation for RFID are:

• USA: FCC (Federal Communications Commission), Canada: DOC (Department of Communication)
   
• Europe: ERO, CEPT, ETSI, and national administrations. Note that the national administrations have to ratify the usage of a specific frequency before it can be used in that country
   
• Japan: MPHPT (Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Post and Telecommunication)
   
• China: Ministry of Information Industry
   
• Oceania: Australian Communication Authority, New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development
   

Low frequency (LF: 125 - 134 KHz and 140 - 148.5 KHz) and High-frequency (HF: 13.56 MHz) RFID tags can be used globally without a license. Ultra-high frequency (UHF: 868 MHz-928 MHz) cannot be used globally as there isn’t one single global standard. In North America, UHF can be used unlicensed for 908 - 928 MHz, but restrictions exist for transmission power. In Europe UHF is under consideration for 865.6 - 867.6 MHz. Its usage is unlicensed for 869.40 - 869.65 MHz only, but restrictions exist for transmission power. The North-American UHF standard (908-928 MHz) is not accepted in France as it interferes with its military bandwidths. For China and Japan, there is no regulation for the use of UHF. Each application for UHF in these countries needs a site license, which needs to be applied for at the local authorities, and can be revoked. For Australia and New Zealand, 918 - 926 MHz for unlicensed use, but restrictions exist for transmission power.

Additional regulations exist regarding health and environmental issues. For example, in Europe, the WEEE regulation (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) does not allow for RFID tags to be thrown away. This means that RFID tags in cardboard boxes have to be removed before disposing them. Additional health regulations exist as well, see EMF (Electromagnetic field).

Some standards that have been made regarding RFID technology include:

• ISO 10536
• ISO 14443
• ISO 15693
• ISO 18000