The address: GTIN, batch, serial and GS1 Digital Link

I'm Daniel Carlman, and this is DPP Academy. Today: the address on your product.

Every passport hangs on a unique product identifier: a string of characters that identifies the product and links to its passport. A data carrier, such as a barcode or a two-dimensional symbol, holds it.

ESPR does not require any one system. The identifier and the carrier must follow the ISO IEC 15459 standards, or equivalent European or international ones.

EN 18219 covers identifiers: globally unique, never reused, usable as a web address. EN 18220 covers carriers, such as QR Code, Data Matrix, NFC and RFID.

One way to build it is with GS1 application identifiers. 01 for the GTIN, the Global Trade Item Number, written as fourteen digits. 10 for batch or lot. 21 for serial number. 22 for consumer product variant.

Put together as a GS1 Digital Link, it becomes an ordinary web address, and it can sit on your own domain: 01 and the GTIN, then 10 and the batch, then 21 and the serial number. The order is fixed.

A GTIN stays with its product. Since January 2019, GS1 rules say an allocated GTIN shall not be reallocated to another trade item.

To be clear: GS1 Digital Link is one standards-based option, not a legal requirement. EN 18219 names it in one of its five identifier schemes for products.

I'm Daniel. See you in episode four.

Next time: model, batch or item. This is not legal advice.