The Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) is the GS1 standard for uniquely identifying products. GTINs are used in retail barcodes (UPC, EAN), electronic data interchange (EDI), and supply chain management systems worldwide. Over 1 billion GTINs are active globally.
GTIN Formats
GTINs come in four formats: GTIN-8 (8 digits, used for small packages); GTIN-12 (12 digits, used in UPC-A barcodes in North America); GTIN-13 (13 digits, used in EAN-13 barcodes globally); and GTIN-14 (14 digits, used for cases and pallets). All GTIN formats include a check digit calculated using the Luhn algorithm.
GS1 Company Prefix
To obtain GTINs, companies must join GS1 and obtain a GS1 Company Prefix. The Company Prefix is assigned by the national GS1 member organisation and uniquely identifies the company. The company then assigns item references to create unique GTINs for each product. The length of the Company Prefix determines how many GTINs the company can create.