What is a GS1 GTIN™?

A GS1 GTIN™ is the number you see under the barcode of a product. As a product identifier, it is unique, global and verifiable within the GS1 system.

To be useful and helpful, product identifiers must be unique, verifiable and global — and that is exactly what a GS1 GTIN™ is.

Your product’s GS1 GTIN™ will be different from the billions of other GS1 GTIN™ already issued to other products, and it will be recognised by all major retailers, supermarkets and marketplaces around the world.

The GS1 GTIN™ is sometimes known as “U.P.C”, “EAN” or barcode. The letters G-T-I-N originally stood for Global Trade Item Number.

The various digits of a GS1 GTIN™ indicate the GS1 Member Organisation from which the GS1 GTIN™ was licensed, the entity (often: the manufacturer) which applied the number to the item, the item number, and a check digit to verify the GS1 GTIN’s structure.

GS1 GTINs™ are unique in the GS1 system and are searchable in Verified by GS1 (www.gs1za.org/solutions/verified/), the publicly accessible GS1 global database that is used and trusted by many marketplaces around the world to verify the identity of the product you want to sell.

Only a GS1 Member Organisation can provide you with a GS1 GTIN™ and guarantee their uniqueness within the GS1 system.
• Want to know more about GS1 GTIN™? Watch our YouTube video “What is GTIN™” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8PBEkyRyQ8).