Used to issue Restricted Circulation Numbers within a company That said, following is the list of GS1 prefixes and their corresponding countries: When a company applies for a GS1 prefix, they provide their location to the organization, and that determines their country prefix-and the items they manufacture can be produced anywhere in the world. So while there isn’t a barcode country of origin list, there is a list of countries in which manufacturers’ businesses are based. But it’s easy to understand that a company’s headquarters or office location and production facilities are often in different countries (sometimes several countries). When a company registers with the GS1 member organization, it is assigned a unique identifier that starts with the GS1 prefix of the GS1 member country. Barcode Prefixes & Country of OriginĪs you can see in the list below, the first three digits of a GS1 company prefix are, in fact, associated with the country where the manufacturer’s business is based. Some basic information associated with a barcode can include the product identity, size, weight, manufacturer identity, and yes-information about the facility where the product was manufactured, among other data.īut, as the memes suggest, do the first three digits show the country of origin? The short answer is no. Various types of barcodes were developed for use in many different industries and applications, and barcodes can contain widely varying types and amounts of information. What Types of Information Can You Find in a Barcode? Let’s set the record straight about the numbers assigned to companies by GS1, the nonprofit member organization that develops, establishes, and communicates barcoding standards in use around the world. But it’s a misrepresentation of the information associated with a product’s barcode. Several times in years past, this question was the subject of memes that made the social media rounds instructing consumers to read barcode numbers to identify the country of origin of products they wanted to buy.Īs with a lot of unvetted information circulating online, the meme in question may have begun with a kernel truth.

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