Did you know that a product’s barcode doesn’t reveal its country of origin? A post made in 2015 went viral for claiming that products whose prefixes start with zero were made in USA and Canada, and those made in China have prefixes starting with 690-699.
Dave Aston made the claim in a bid to encourage consumers to buy products made from the two countries and avoid those made in China. More than five years later, the debate rages on as other contributors make similar claims. It couldn’t be further from the truth. A product’s barcode hardly reveals the country of origin of the item. Here’s why:
What is a Barcode?
A barcode is a machine-readable number with a pattern of parallel lines of varying widths printed on an item. Manufacturers use it to encode information about the product making it easy to monitor stock levels and facilitate orders.
The code also standardizes supply chain processes and helps monitor products as they move. The Universal Product Code is the most common barcode, and it consists of 12 numbers. Here’s a list of some GS1 prefixes and the countries they represent:
Barcode Prefix
Used by companies with restricted circulation numbers
0000001-0000099
Used to avoid confusion with GTIN-8
001-019
GS1 US
020-029
Also used when issuing restricted circulation numbers with a defined geographic area
030-039
GS1 US
040-049
Issued with using restricted circulation numbers within a company
050-059
GS1 codes for future use for US-based companies
060-139
GS1 US
200-299
Also used when issuing restricted circulation numbers with a defined geographic area
300-379
For French-based GS1 companies
380
For GS1 companies in Bulgaria
383
For GS1 companies in Slovenija
385
For GS1 companies in Croatia
387
For GS1 companies in Bosnia-Herzegovina
389
For GS1 companies in Montenegro
400-440
For GS1 companies in Germany
450-459
For GS1 companies in Japan
460-469
For GS1 companies in Russia
470
For GS1 companies in Kyrgyzstan
471
For GS1 Chinese Taipei
474
GS1 companies in Estonia
475
GS1 companies in Latvia
476
GS1 companies in Azerbaijan
477
GS1 member companies in Lithuania
478
GS1 member companies in Uzbekistan
479
GS1 member companies in Sri Lanka
480
GS1 companies in Philippines
481
GS1 companies in Belarus
482
GS1 companies in Ukraine
483
GS1 companies in Turkmenistan
484
GS1 companies in Moldova
500-509
GS1 member companies in the UK
520-521
GS1 companies in Association Greece
540-549
GS1 companies in Luxembourg and Belgium
570-579
GS1 companies in Denmark
600-601
GS1 companies in South Africa
640-649
GS1 members in Finland
690-699
GS1 members in China
700-709
GS1 members in Norway
730-739
GS1 members in Sweden
754-755
Who Assigns Barcodes?
The GS1 UK Ltd is tasked with assigning barcodes to member companies. Typically, GS1 assigns unique company prefixes to each company, usually 6-11 digits. They act as the base for identifying the company, with the other numbers assigned to particular products. As such, each product has a unique barcode. Does a Barcode Denote the Product’s Country of Origin?
When applying for the GS1 prefix, a company provides its location to determine the country prefix. So it’s safe to say that country prefixes between 690 and 699 are based in China, and those starting with zero are from the USA.
However, GS1 member companies can make products anywhere in the world. This means consumers can’t rely on GS1 prefixes to determine where the product was made or the manufacturer’s nationality.