USE OF GS1 GLOBAL

STANDARDS

John Hall – Solutions Manager,

Sustainability and Traceability – GS1 UK

© 2011 GS1 UK

EC DG SANCO

• European Commission

Directorate General for

Health & Consumers (DG

SANCO) initiated an

informal Expert Group on

product traceability in

2012

• GS1 prepared the

“Research support for an

informal expert group on

product traceability” report

as part of the European

Commission service

contract

• Report published in

October 2013

© 2011 GS1 UK

Expert group members

• Andrew Abercrombie, DCA MTSI, Hampshire County Council, Trading Standards Service, UK

• Emil Alexiev, Head of Consumer Policy Unit, Ministry of Economy and Energy, Bulgaria

• Louis Balme, Office for Europe, ISAS, Switzerland

• Erwan Berthelot, Colipa, Belgium

• Daniel Bral, CSR manager, Colruyt & Dreamland, Belgium

• Silvia Bollani, Project Office Coordinator, Altroconsumo, Italy

• Frédéric Hausemer, Quality Director, Dorel Europe, France

• Laura Holkko, Senior Adviser for Legal Affairs, Consumer Policy and Technical Regulation, Labour and Trade

Department, Ministry of Employment and the Economy, Finland

• John Keogh, Director Product and Consumer Safety, GS1 Global Office, Belgium

• Göran Kullberg, Head of Quality, BRIO AB, Sweden

• Miodrag Mitic, Managing Partner, European Traceability Institute, Belgium

• Laurent Parrot, Responsable Service Technique, FPJ, France

• Emilie Prouzet, Directrice Europe, FCD, France

• Torben Rahbek, Innovation, Analysis and Consulting, Denmark

• Jean-Luc Viruega, Traçabiliticien®, JLV Conseil, France

• Suzanna Vodovnik, DG Enterprise and Industry

• Robert Murphy, EFTA.

• European Commission's Directorate General Health and Consumers, Unit B3: Maija Laurila, Head of Unit, Peter

Bischoff-Everding, Deputy Head of Unit, Yoanna Trendafilova, Laura Piazza, Eoin O’Malley, Deborah MacRate-

Ockerman and Elena Reeves-Way.

• The research support and facilitation of the expert group was led by Diane Taillard, GS1 Global Office, Belgium

© 2011 GS1 UK

Key Recommendations

1. Economic operators should label their consumer products at least with a product

identification code and contact details of the responsible economic operator

2. Economic Operators should automate their traceability system by using data

capture, data recording and data exchange technologies with applicable global

standards

3. Economic Operators should get trained on traceability in order to be aware of

traceability benefits, understand best practices and get the knowledge to choose

and implement the most relevant tools to automate traceability within their

organisation.

4. Traceability assessment exercises should be conducted across the chain with the

cooperation of market surveillance authorities and trade associations.

5. Information about how to use barcodes / product codes to get additional

information should be included in trainings for market surveillance authorities.

6. Best practices for market surveillance authorities to follow should be developed for

best use of available information when products are crossing borders within the

EU, including real case studies.

7. Consumer associations should raise awareness on the importance of product

identification and inform consumers on possibilities to alert authorities on

suspicious products.

© 2011 GS1 UK

Key Recommendations

1. Economic operators should label their consumer products at least with a product

identification code and contact details of the responsible economic operator

2. Economic Operators should automate their traceability system by using data

capture, data recording and data exchange technologies with applicable global

standards

3. Economic Operators should get trained on traceability in order to be aware of

traceability benefits, understand best practices and get the knowledge to choose

and implement the most relevant tools to automate traceability within their

organisation.

4. Traceability assessment exercises should be conducted across the chain with the

cooperation of market surveillance authorities and trade associations.

5. Information about how to use barcodes / product codes to get additional

information should be included in trainings for market surveillance authorities.

6. Best practices for market surveillance authorities to follow should be developed for

best use of available information when products are crossing borders within the

EU, including real case studies.

7. Consumer associations should raise awareness on the importance of product

identification and inform consumers on possibilities to alert authorities on

suspicious products.

© 2011 GS1 UK

SO WHO IS GS1?

© 2011 GS1 UK

Also known as……

…… ‘the Bar Code people’

© 2011 GS1 UK

GS1 believes in the power of standards to transform the way we work and live

8

© 2011 GS1 UK

GS1’s unique difference

9

• We create a common foundation

for business by uniquely

identifying, accurately capturing

and automatically sharing vital

information about products,

locations and assets.

• We enable visibility through the

exchange of authentic data.

• We empower business to grow

and to improve efficiency, safety,

security and sustainability.

© 2011 GS1 UK

GS1 principles

10

We are:

• Neutral and not-for-profit

• User-driven and governed

• Global and local

• Inclusive and collaborative

© 2011 GS1 UK

GS1 in numbers

11

111

Member

Organisations

Across

150

countries

Serving over

one million companies

Over

20

represented

sectors

More than

5 billion barcodes read

all over the

planet every

day

2,500 people helping us to

achieve our

vision

…the Global Language of Business

© 2011 GS1 UK

AND WHAT’S THE TECHNOLOGY?

© 2011 GS1 UK

History speaks

13

In 2013 GS1 celebrated 40 years of the Global Language of Business

1970s 1980s 1990s 2010s

Point of sale

scanning

Electronic transfer

of data (EDI)

Radio frequency

identification

(RFID)

Omni-channel

trading

It all began in 1973 when industry leaders in the United States

select a single standard for product identification

© 2011 GS1 UK

How the GS1 system works

14

Efficiency

Safety Security

Sustainability

© 2011 GS1 UK

A need for global standards…

15

GS1 Standards for identifying, capturing, and sharing

information—about products, business locations, and

more—make it possible for companies to speak the same

language, connect with each other, and move their

business forward.

© 2011 GS1 UK

…to meet the needs of the supply

chain in different sectors

16

© 2011 GS1 UK

Ever wondered what the GS1 barcode has done for you?

17

© 2011 GS1 UK

GS1’S ROLE IN PRODUCT SAFETY

© 2011 GS1 UK

GS1 Global Product Safety Strategy

19

• To develop a global GS1 approach to engage with

major safety stakeholders in the Retail/CPG industry

and gain their recognition or endorsement.

Benefits

For the consumer:

access to safe products and

improved trust in the supply

chain

For the industry:

leveraging the use of GS1

Standards already in place to

meet safety needs

For authorities:

facilitate market surveillance,

capacity-building for

compliance with regulations,

improve public health

© 2011 GS1 UK

Clear drivers for change

Retailer

• Competitive advantage/Differentiation (especially for

high-end products)

• To restore consumer trust

• Economic (through more effective recalls and

withdrawals)

• Sustainable sourcing

• Ethical sourcing

Supplier • The same drivers as retailers

Regulatory • Regulations due to consumer pressure or safety

Consumers • Demand for visibility of greater product information

• “It’s expected”

Technological • Becomes default/affordable/easy to adopt

© 2011 GS1 UK

Key Safety Regulations

21

• US Bioterrorism Act

• US FDA Food Safety Modernisation Act (FSMA)

• US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)

• EU Food Law (EC) 178/2002

• EU General Product Safety Directive (GPSD) to be replaced soon by a

new EU Product Safety Regulation

– GS1’s focus is on general safety regulations for all relevant food products

and non-food consumer goods, especially those traded internationally

– Sector-specific regulations and other local regulations exist in addition to

the above

© 2011 GS1 UK

Key Global Standards related

to Food and Product Safety

22

Public standards for food :

• Codex (traceability/tracing definition but no significant work relevant to GS1 at the moment)

• HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points)

• ISO TC 34/group 17: ISO 22 000 package (incl. 22005)

Private standards for food (certification schemes)

• IFS (International Featured Standards)

• BRC Global Standards

• Safe Quality Foods (SQF)

• FSSC 22 000 from the foundation for Food Safety Certification

• GlobalGAP

and other GFSI benchmarked schemes

Public standards for non-food consumer products

• ISO 10377 Consumer Product Safety – Guidelines for suppliers

• ISO 10393, Consumer product recall – Guidelines for suppliers, First edition, ISO, 2013

Public standards for food and non-food

• ISO TC247/group 3 : ISO 16678 Fraud countermeasures and controls – Guidelines for interoperable object identification and related authentication systems to deter counterfeiting and illicit trade (under development)

1-up, 1-down traceability

Supplier Processor Manufacturer Distribution

Centre Retailer Consumer

GTS

GTS / Retailer’s own

traceability systems

(using GS1

standards?)

DataBar or

DataMatrix (GTIN,

Batch no, serial no) GS

1

sta

ndard

s

availa

ble

Use of GS1 standards assumed to be low

Use of GS1

standards varies by

retailer

GS1 standards often

replaced by internal

codes

Traditionally no use

of GS1 standards,

although online is

changing that

1-up, 1-down traceability information Limited, if any,

traceability information

to the consumer

Upstream / GTS

GTIN, SSCC, Batch No, Logistics Label, ASN...

Curr

ent

usage

Benefits:

• Allows end-to-end supply chain traceability

Issues:

• Will still work with use of multiple, non-standard identification systems

© 2011 GS1 UK

Full traceability

Supplier Processor Manufacturer Distribution

Centre Retailer Consumer

GS

1

sta

ndard

s

availa

ble

Use of EPCIS is limited

EPCIS

Curr

ent

usage

Full supply chain visibility and traceability

Event information

(GTIN, SSCC, Batch No, Logistics Label, ASN)

DataBar or

DataMatrix (GTIN,

Batch no, serial no)

Benefits:

• Provides full end-to-end event-based supply chain traceability

• Works with multiple carriers e.g. barcodes, RFID

Issues:

• Implementation more complex than ‘1-up-1-down’

© 2011 GS1 UK

Thank you