WARNING!
Please find below some precutions to be taken when taking the decision to obtain international numbers to be represented in barcodes on your producs packaging:
- the barcode number is a kind of an ID-card of your product, that is why it is essential to be UNIQUE at global level;
- the organization that administers the barcode numbers bank is mandatory to be part of an international association/body in order to comply with the condition at pt.1
- you may find a lot of companies ”selling/allocating” numbers, barcodes, prefixes, but what you should be aware is, if these companies are acting based on a valid international license contract, and eventually to give you the possibility to study the activity of this international body, they are affiliated to;
- some companies make statements that they administer an ISO standard. Wrong! ISO standards are ruled only by ISO and its national standard bodies, in Romania: ASRO.
- the most used barcode symbol is EAN-13, whose graphical representation is described by ISO standards 15420. Everybody may purchase from ASRO and use this standard, but as is stated in the text of the standard itself: : "EAN/UPC bar code symbols are exclusively reserved for encoding identification numbers. The use of the symbology is restricted and subject to compliance with the EAN International(EAN) and Uniform Code Council(UCC) rules and registration procedures."
- there is only one type of barcode numbering accepted in the world for commerce and logistics and that is EAN/GS1. Choosing the barcode number supplier is not a question of price but international good practice, respect for your products and your business partners. You really do not have anything else to choose but GS1 all over the world.
- the average cost of the membership at GS1, in Romania is approxipatelu 1/3 of a SSL certificate for an Internet site, hence a minimal cost to register your products in the sole genuine numbering system in the world: GS1.