diff --git a/modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/description/AxisBindingMessage.java b/modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/description/AxisBindingMessage.java
index e358cbb9db..87b374eae3 100644
--- a/modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/description/AxisBindingMessage.java
+++ b/modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/description/AxisBindingMessage.java
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ public class AxisBindingMessage extends AxisDescription {
     private boolean fault = false;
 
     private volatile Policy effectivePolicy = null;
-    private volatile Date lastPolicyCalculatedTime = null;
+    private volatile OpaqueInstant lastPolicyCalculatedTime = null;
 
     public boolean isFault() {
         return fault;
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ public Policy getEffectivePolicy() {
             synchronized (this) {
                 if (lastPolicyCalculatedTime == null || isPolicyUpdated()) {
                     effectivePolicy = calculateEffectivePolicy();
-                    lastPolicyCalculatedTime = new Date();
+                    lastPolicyCalculatedTime = new OpaqueInstant();
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/description/AxisMessage.java b/modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/description/AxisMessage.java
index f7a1d072a1..eb8d85c056 100644
--- a/modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/description/AxisMessage.java
+++ b/modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/description/AxisMessage.java
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@
 import javax.xml.namespace.QName;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collection;
-import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.List;
 
 
@@ -67,7 +66,7 @@ public class AxisMessage extends AxisDescription {
     private boolean wrapped = true;
 
     private volatile Policy effectivePolicy = null;
-    private volatile Date lastPolicyCalculatedTime = null;
+    private volatile OpaqueInstant lastPolicyCalculatedTime = null;
 
     public String getMessagePartName() {
         return messagePartName;
@@ -241,7 +240,7 @@ public Policy getEffectivePolicy() {
             synchronized (this) {
                 if (lastPolicyCalculatedTime == null || isPolicyUpdated()) {
                     effectivePolicy = calculateEffectivePolicy();
-                    lastPolicyCalculatedTime = new Date();
+                    lastPolicyCalculatedTime = new OpaqueInstant();
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/description/OpaqueInstant.java b/modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/description/OpaqueInstant.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b28e02462c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/description/OpaqueInstant.java
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.axis2.description;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
+
+public final class OpaqueInstant {
+    private static final AtomicInteger nextSequence = new AtomicInteger();
+
+    private final int sequence;
+
+    public OpaqueInstant() {
+        sequence = nextSequence.getAndIncrement();
+    }
+
+    public boolean after(OpaqueInstant when) {
+        return sequence > when.sequence;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/description/PolicySubject.java b/modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/description/PolicySubject.java
index 49e0b59969..3bcaab0230 100644
--- a/modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/description/PolicySubject.java
+++ b/modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/description/PolicySubject.java
@@ -25,13 +25,12 @@
 import org.apache.neethi.PolicyReference;
 
 import java.util.Collection;
-import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
 
 public class PolicySubject {
-    private Date lastUpdatedTime = new Date();
+    private OpaqueInstant lastUpdatedTime = new OpaqueInstant();
     
     private ConcurrentHashMap<String, PolicyComponent> attachedPolicyComponents = new ConcurrentHashMap<String, PolicyComponent>();
 
@@ -49,7 +48,7 @@ public void attachPolicy(Policy policy) {
 
     public void attachPolicyReference(PolicyReference reference) {
         attachedPolicyComponents.put(reference.getURI(), reference);
-        setLastUpdatedTime(new Date()); 
+        setLastUpdatedTime(new OpaqueInstant()); 
     }
 
     public void attachPolicyComponents(List<PolicyComponent> policyComponents) {
@@ -74,7 +73,7 @@ public void attachPolicyComponent(PolicyComponent policyComponent) {
     public void attachPolicyComponent(String key,
             PolicyComponent policyComponent) {
         attachedPolicyComponents.put(key, policyComponent);
-        setLastUpdatedTime(new Date());
+        setLastUpdatedTime(new OpaqueInstant());
     }
 
     public PolicyComponent getAttachedPolicyComponent(String key) {
@@ -94,24 +93,24 @@ public void updatePolicy(Policy policy) {
                     "policy doesn't have a name or an id ");
         }
         attachedPolicyComponents.put(key, policy);
-        setLastUpdatedTime(new Date());
+        setLastUpdatedTime(new OpaqueInstant());
     }
 
     public void detachPolicyComponent(String key) {
         attachedPolicyComponents.remove(key);
-        setLastUpdatedTime(new Date());
+        setLastUpdatedTime(new OpaqueInstant());
     }
 
     public void clear() {
         attachedPolicyComponents.clear();
-        setLastUpdatedTime(new Date());
+        setLastUpdatedTime(new OpaqueInstant());
     }
 
-    public Date getLastUpdatedTime() {
+    public OpaqueInstant getLastUpdatedTime() {
         return lastUpdatedTime;
     }
 
-    public void setLastUpdatedTime(Date lastUpdatedTime) {
+    public void setLastUpdatedTime(OpaqueInstant lastUpdatedTime) {
         this.lastUpdatedTime = lastUpdatedTime;
     }
 }