Country of origin of goods by barcode numbers. How is the country of origin determined by barcode?

When choosing goods in a store, each of us tries to select quality products domestic or imported production. To do this, it is not at all necessary to ask the seller to show you a quality certificate; just look at the labeling. But how is the manufacturer determined by the barcode? What should you pay attention to? And what is the meaning of the numbers on the code?

General barcode information

Like a zebra, a barcode is a sequence of black and white stripes of varying widths and lengths. It contains numbers located in in a certain order and having specific meaning. Special devices - scanners - help to recognize this “encrypted message” used to label various goods. They are the ones who help you identify the manufacturer by barcode. However, as a rule, only sellers and employees of retail chains have such equipment.

There are sequential or linear and two-dimensional barcodes. In the first case, information is read vertically, and in the second, both vertically and horizontally. In most stores and retail outlets codes of the first type are used, the most famous of which is the thirteen-digit marking EAN13. You can also find short codes consisting of eight digits.

Each code is individual. At the same time, if we're talking about about food products, then in this case It is possible not only to determine the manufacturer’s barcode, but also to obtain certain data about the product. For example, few people know that the product code contains information about their color, weight, number of pieces per batch and size.

Assigns barcodes International Association EAN.

Why do we need a barcode on goods and products?

A barcode placed on any product in stores helps to control the accounting of turnover, inventory, and also control the sale of a specific batch of products. In particular, every customer encounters a scanner when they go to pay for goods at the checkout. It is thanks to the code that the cashier can find the manufacturer by barcode, and also sees the name of the product and its cost.

How is a barcode applied to products?

The barcode is usually found on the product packaging or on the product itself. In this case, it can be applied either typographically or attached artificially using an adhesive base. In addition, for convenience, some stores use their own recognition markings, which significantly reduces the chances of identifying the real manufacturer of a particular product.

What is the meaning of the numbers in a barcode?

Determining the manufacturer by barcode is quite difficult, but it is possible if you know the meaning of the numbers. So, for example, the first 2-3 digits indicate the code of the country of manufacture, the next 4 are the proprietary code of the manufacturer itself, another 5 digits indicate the presence of a product code, and the last is control mark goods. In addition, at the end of the code there may also be an icon similar to the mathematical symbol ">". It means certified products. But even exclusive products do not always have this icon.

For greater convenience, you can print and carry with you a plate of codes related to certain countries of the world. For example, for Bolivia the code is “777”, for Turkey “869”, for India – “890”, for Spain “84”, for Italy – “80-83”, for China “690-693”, for Poland “ 590”, etc. For example, the barcode for hand cream “Velvet Hands” looks like this: 460072088618, where the first three digits (460) indicate that the manufacturing country is Russia (the code “460-469” is typical for it "). Thus, the manufacturer is recognized by the barcode by the first three digits indicated on the plate.

How to check a barcode without a scanner?

If you want to find out the country of manufacture of the product you are purchasing, but you do not have a scanner or you do not plan to remember a long table with codes, you can do this in other ways. For example, the manufacturer can be easily determined by barcode using special online services.

To do this, you need to enter the code you are interested in in a special empty window and press the “Recognize” button. For example, let's enter the barcode of a regular ballpoint pen: 836449800017. After a short search, we get the following data:

• country of origin - Italy;
• national organization EAN/UCC – INDICOD (Italy).

In addition, you can check the manufacturer using a barcode without manually entering numbers using a variety of mobile applications. For example, the following scanners can be classified as similar:

• Virtual QR scanner.
• Barcode Scanner.
• Portable barcode scanner (Nelson Pires).
• Radio barcode scanner "Demo" and others.

The principle of their operation is quite simple. All you have to do is download special program on your smartphone or telephone, launch it and bring the code of any product to the camera, and it will recognize it and display the result. Some applications have a highly specialized purpose. For example, a radar scanner. It helps to narrow down the search for a manufacturer by barcode medicines included in the State Register of Medicines.

Accordingly, if the code was not recognized by this service, then such a medicine was simply not included in the register of medicines. Interestingly, after scanning medications, the application user becomes available information not only about the manufacturer, but also about the medicine itself as a whole.

Some applications make it possible not only to read the code, but also to control it inventory. For example, this is how a Wi-Fi scanner works with the ability to enter data about balances into an Excel file.

Why does the country of origin sometimes not correspond to reality?

It often happens that the price tag and packaging indicate one country of origin, for example, Germany, but when identified by code it turns out to be completely different. In this situation, there may be several reasons why the manufacturer’s barcode differs from what is stated on the package.

For example, the most common of them is registration. Thus, the manufacturer may register the code not in real country of its production, but in the one where it most often exports its products. The second reason is the registration of produced raw materials not at the main, but at a subsidiary of the organization. This also includes the production of goods in subsidiaries and factories.

In addition, the country of origin indicated by the barcode may differ from the real one due to the manufacture of product units in one state and the receipt of a license for the product in another. Also, a discrepancy is clear evidence of defective or uncertified products or counterfeits. And finally, the founders of the company who are citizens of another country may be to blame.

How to distinguish a fake from an original product?

Often scanning a product or checking it manually using a code can help determine how genuine a product is. And the check digit at the end of the code will help you recognize a fake. To do this you need to perform certain mathematical operations. Let's take the barcode as a basis. next sample: 482002470001 6. Next, let’s conditionally divide the entire code into “first - second” (excluding last value) and sum up all the numbers that turn out to be “second”. We get the following expression: 8 + 0 + 2 + 7 + 0 + 1 = 18. After this, we multiply the resulting number by “3” and get: 18 x 3 = 54.

Then, before the country of origin is determined by the barcode, we sum up all the numbers that turn out to be “first”: 4 + 2 + 0 + 4 + 0 + 0 = 10. Now we add up the amounts obtained from adding the “first” and “second” » groups of numbers. We get: 54 + 10 = 64. And finally, take the number closest to 64, a multiple of 10 (70), and subtract 64. We get – 6. That is The country of manufacture in our example corresponds to the one indicated on the packaging. In this case, the barcode matches.

Is it possible to check the authenticity of the code online?

In addition to manual calculations, each user will be able to check the code online. To do this, he needs to log in to the appropriate resource, fill in the code fields and press the “Check” button. As a result, you may receive a response to the request in the form: “The barcode is genuine” or “The code is not genuine.”

Where is barcode used in everyday life?

Coding commercial products carry out manufacturing enterprises. Similar operations are also performed by those companies that want to minimize human participation in the process of manufacturing goods. Due to the fact that the barcode allows you to rid the enterprise of the so-called human factor, it is possible to eliminate errors that occur when entering a product item manually. Therefore, coding is used in the following cases:

• when counting goods in a warehouse;
• during inventory;
• during packaging of products;
• in employee registration systems (when employees enter and exit through the checkpoint);
• when reading product data during cash transactions;
• when installing promotional offers, introducing discounts and gift promotions;
• when identifying products on shelves;
• in the case of marking large-sized cargo and postal parcels.

How much information can be included in a barcode?

The amount of information that can be included in a barcode directly depends on the selected code and the requirements for it. For example, the thirteen-digit and eight-digit codes are limited in the number of characters. On the contrary, Code 39 and 128 standard codes open up unlimited possibilities for manufacturers. As a rule, the optimal maximum length is considered to be a scale with encrypted characters from 20 to 64. A two-dimensional code requires the introduction of over 1600 characters.

What devices can be used to read a barcode?

You can read the encrypted code using portable and laser scanners, capable of performing their functions from a distance of 60 cm. Similar options are provided to the cash registers themselves, which have a barcode reading system, as well as special pens and pencil scanners, laser pistols, etc.

In conclusion, let’s say that if you plan to check a product’s barcode for authenticity or find out the country of origin by it, choose the method that suits you.

Applied to a label, label or packaging of a product. How to find out from it the country where the product was produced, how to check its correctness, what else it contains and how it helps make life and work easier - questions that we will definitely touch on in this article.

What is a barcode?

Barcodes of countries around the world are applied to product packaging or labels. This image is designed to identify information about a product using a special scanner, which automates the process of product accounting and, thereby, significantly reduces the time for data processing.

In Russia, the most common barcodes of countries producing goods are EAN-13 and EAN-8, which, in addition to shading, include a series of thirteen and eight digits, respectively.

Barcode decoding

The hatching encodes alphabetic and digital characters in the form of alternating light and black stripes of varying thickness. The thinnest stroke is taken as a unit - the module (thickness - 0.33 mm). The largest width of one stroke is three modules. To encode one digit, modules are required, combined into “commands” - two transparent stripes and two black stripes.

Data is also encrypted by the width of transparent and black strokes, and their combination. The width of the entire EAN code cannot be greater than the nominal width of 31.35 mm. It is necessary to leave empty space around the code for more accurate identification, so the final width is 37.29 mm. To indicate to the reader the beginning and end of the scanned field, special elongated edge modules are applied.

Digital EAN encoding- European Commodity Numbering Association (barcodes of manufacturing countries are compiled according to its standards) - as already mentioned, consists of 8 digits for small packages and 13 for all others.

Each combination of numbers encodes a specific section of information:

• the first 2-3 characters are the code of the country that manufactured the product;
• 3-5 or 3-7 - code of the enterprise where the product or product was made;
• 6-7 or 8-12 - the actual product code, its registration number assigned within a given organization, consisting not of simple dialing numbers, but encoding the article, name, color, size, weight, grade and other characteristics;
• the last digit is the control digit; it can be calculated using a certain arithmetic algorithm.

You can search for a barcode by country of origin using this table.

Barcode Feature Set

In addition to identifying and informative functions, barcodes from countries of origin of goods also perform the following number of tasks:

• information data for marketing researchers;
• operational management of goods movement in warehouses: storage, loading, transportation;
• increasing the speed of customer service;
• control and accounting of goods in the warehouse and on display cases;
• quick identification of goods using scanning mechanisms.

Checking the barcode of cosmetics, goods

The authenticity of the barcode is checked by the last, thirteenth digit. To do this, each code symbol is assigned serial number from 1 to 12. Then:

1. Add all even numbers and multiply them by 3.
2. Sum up all odd numbers.
3. The “odd” amount is added to the “even” amount.
4. Only the last character is left from the resulting value (if it was equal to 324, then 4, if 23, then 3, etc.)
5. This single number is subtracted from ten - the difference must be equal to the check digit.

To check the authenticity of the barcodes of the countries where goods are produced, this simple calculation is enough.

EAN code readers

To read information from hatching use:

• cash scanning devices;
• optical readers in the form of a laser gun, pen, pencil, etc.;
• portable and stationary mechanisms that allow you to read the code at a distance of 0.6-6 meters.

The simplest of the devices presented is a pencil. By running it through the code, the cashier-operator enters cash register computer information about the product upon purchase. However, this contact reading is only suitable for small shops.

Large markets use D-500 format scanners that recognize codes at a distance and in different orientations of the label or packaging using multi-beam scanning. The decoder built into them is capable of “unraveling” the encoding of all known standards.

After receiving information about the purchased product, the reading mechanism transmits the read data to central system warehouse, which subtracts these products from those available. When there is a critical balance of goods, the system sends a signal about the need to replenish it.

Almost all readers are able to recognize fake shading. But to recognize the barcodes of countries around the world, they need following conditions: location of the code no closer than 2 cm from the edge of the package or label, in the lower right corner, without text or image applied to it.

Barcode history

Barcodes of countries of origin of goods originate in the late forties of the 20th century, when students Bernard Silver and Norman Woodland tried out their new invention. They received a patent for this means of automatic information processing in 1952.

Refuting the legend that the very first product to have a barcode applied was Wrigley (chewing gum), I would like to clarify that this was only the first product from which the scanner read information from the barcode. The item was randomly selected by the cashier while testing the new system.

In 1981, the United States Department of Defense decided to use the CODE39 barcode format to label all military goods. This became the trigger for the massive use of barcoding around the world. The system was so well thought out that the used barcodes of the countries producing goods are not outdated to this day.

Bar code is a sequence of black and white stripes that represents some information in a form that is easy to read technical means. The information contained in the code can be printed in readable form under the code (decoding). Bar codes are used in trade, warehouse accounting, librarianship, security systems, postal business, assembly production, document processing. In global trade practice, it is common to use EAN barcodes to label goods. In accordance with according to the accepted procedure, the manufacturer of the product applies a bar code to it, generated using data about the country of location of the manufacturer and the manufacturer’s code. Manufacturer code is assigned regional office international organization EAN International. This registration procedure eliminates the possibility of two various goods with the same codes.

Exist various ways coding information called (barcode encodings or symbols). There are linear and two-dimensional barcode symbologies.

Linear(regular), in contrast to two-dimensional, are barcodes that are readable in one direction (horizontally). The most common linear symbologies: EAN, UPC, Code39, Code128, Codabar, Interleaved 2 of 5. Linear symbologies allow you to encode a small amount of information (up to 20-30 characters - usually numbers) using simple barcodes that can be read by inexpensive scanners. Example EAN-13 symbology code:

Two-dimensional are called symbols designed to encode large amounts of information (up to several pages of text). 2D code is read using a special two-dimensional code scanner and allows you to quickly and accurately enter a large amount of information. Deciphering such a code is carried out in two dimensions (horizontally and vertically). Datamatrix, Data Glyph, Aztec.

Barcode can be applied in the production of packaging (by printing) or use self-adhesive labels that are printed using special printers.

For reading barcodes special devices called barcode scanners are used. The scanner illuminates the barcode with its illuminator and reads the resulting image. After that, it detects the presence of black barcode stripes in the picture. If the scanner does not have a built-in decoder (barcode decoding unit), then the scanner transmits to the receiving device a series of signals corresponding to the width of the black and white stripes. Barcode decoding must be performed by the receiving device or an external decoder. If the scanner is equipped with an internal decoder, then this decoder decodes the barcode and transmits the information to the receiving device (computer, cash machine etc.) in accordance with the interface signals determined by the scanner model.

Deciphering the barcode. With the help barcode information about some of the most essential parameters of the product is encrypted. The most common is American Universal product code UPC and European system EAN coding. The most common are EAN/UCC product numbers EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, UPC-E and 14-bit ITF-14 shipping package code. There is also a 128-bit UCC/EAN-128 system. According to one system or another, each type of product is assigned its own number, most often consisting of 13 digits (EAN-13). Let's take for example: 4820024700016. The first two digits (482) mean the country of origin (manufacturer or seller) of the product, the next 4 or 5 depending on the length of the country code (0024) - the manufacturer, another five (70001) - the name of the product, its consumer properties, sizes, weight, color. Last digit(6) control, used to check that the scanner is reading strokes correctly. EAN-13:

1 - Country code.
2 - Manufacturer code.
3 - Product code.
4 - Check digit.
5 - Mark of goods manufactured under license

Example calculation check digit to determine the authenticity of the goods 1. Add the numbers in even places: 8+0+2+7+0+1=18
2. Multiply the resulting amount by 3: 18x3=54
3. Add the numbers in odd places without a check digit:
4+2+0+4+0+0=10
4. Add the numbers indicated in steps 2 and 3: 54+10=64
5. Discard tens: we get 4
6. Subtract from 10 what was obtained in step 5: 10-4=6
If the number obtained after calculation does not match the control digit in the barcode, this means that the product was produced illegally.
The country of manufacture code has two or three characters, and the company code has four or five characters. Products that are large in size may have a short code consisting of eight digits - EAN-8.
Typically, the country code is assigned by the International Association EAN. We draw the attention of consumers to the fact that the strange code never consists of one digit. Sometimes the code printed on the label does not correspond to the country of origin stated on the packaging; there may be several reasons. First: the company was registered and received a code not in its own country, but in the one where the main export of its products is directed. Second: the product was manufactured at a subsidiary. Third: perhaps the product was manufactured in one country, but under a license from a company from another country. The fourth is when several companies from different countries become the founders of an enterprise.

Correspondence table of country barcodes in the "EAN" system.

Thanks to changes in market relations, goods produced in different parts of the world are found on store shelves .

The applied barcode has an informational meaning: about the country, location of production and personal code products.

This introduction eliminates the appearance of repeated codes for different products. .

In contact with

Types of barcoding

Information is read in different ways. Bar coding is also called symbology.

There are two symbols:

• linear;
• two dimensions.

Linear barcodes or symbology are read horizontally. It can have up to 30 characters and can be read by inexpensive scanners.

Symbols of two dimensions are encoded in large volumes, on several pages. They read information using powerful scanners in two dimensions (horizontal and vertical).

The bar code is applied to the container using two methods:

• when packaging containers are made, it is applied by the printing house;
• The self-adhesive barcode is applied after the product is packaged.

Decoding digital information

The UPS number combination and the EAN product coding system are recognized in Europe. This system encoding stores specific data.

A linear barcode consists of numbers indicating:

• code of the country;
• manufacturer code;
• product code;
• check digit;
• sign of a product manufactured under license.

The digital value of the product code, consisting of five digits:

• the first one denotes the product;
• the second is consumption properties;
• the third - determines the dimensions;
• fourth - composition of ingredients;
• the fifth indicates the color.

The product registration number tells where the product was registered . This means that production could have taken place in another country. . Such actions are not prohibited by the Association's registrar.

The manufacturer or seller code allows you to record a million enterprises in one region. And enterprises register each unit of products produced. The product code allows you to register one hundred thousand products.

Good to know: The product code does not indicate the quality or price of the product. This is a registration of an existing name. When a new name is released, it is also registered .

The check digit is checked by the scanner to see if the digital combination is applied correctly.

Country table

The international association EAN gives each country its own trade combination of several numbers.

Each product has a registration number, which consists of 13 numbers according to the EAN system.

America and Canada use the 12 digit combination according to UPS, where the bar code originated from .

For large items, a combination of 8 numbers is used.

Correspondence table between numbers and states

According to the list, the manufacturer can be easily determined. For example, the numbers 64 indicate that the company is located in Finland . Italy can have a code ranging from 80 to 83. This means that if it is 82, then the country of origin will be Italy .

Thailand has its own three-digit number 885, Turkish products have a bar code 869. The Japanese manufacturer will put the first numbers in the range from 449 to 459. Ukrainian goods will have a code 482. The Belarusian bar code 481 appeared in 1998.

Example: to decipher the code of the purchased shoes , you need to look at the two or three numbers that come first. And compare them with the data in the table below. Get the manufacturer's country code.

It is worth noting: The barcode on the packaging does not always correspond to the country where the product was manufactured.

Reasons for encoding mismatch

Having purchased the product specific country, doubts arise whether it is a fake if its code does not correspond to the one given in the table.

What are the reasons that the code number does not correspond to the country of manufacture? This happens when:

• the manufacturer's company has been registered in the country where the product is sold;
• the products were produced by a branch, that is, not by the enterprise itself, but by a similar one, but in a different country;
• a license from another country was granted for the manufacture of this product;
• Several countries are involved in the production of products.

How then to find out the manufacturer?

Checking the manufacturer and authenticity of the product

To find out the manufacturer and authenticity of the product, you can use the Internet.

A free online service has been created for this purpose. — a service that offers to determine the authenticity of purchased products by entering the product barcode .

You type in the search engine: “check barcode”, and on the website enter all the numbers indicated on the packaging of the purchased product. Click the “check” button and get the answer:

• “genuine barcode” + information about the country and manufacturer;
• « The barcode is not genuine! — the message will be red.

When you don’t have the Internet at hand, you can check the authenticity of a purchase by calculating the check digit.

Let's look at an example: barcode 4601546021298 and carry out its mathematical calculations:

1. First, we determine the sum of the numbers in even places: 6+1+4+0+1+9=21.
2. Then we add the sum of the digits occupying odd positions, but without the last digit: 4+0+5+6+2+2=19.
3. We multiply the sum of even positions by 3, that is: (21*3)+19=82.
4. We remove 8 tens, we get 2. We calculate the difference: 10-2=8; where the number 10 means a constant number that does not depend on the number of characters in the code.
5. The difference should be equal last number, which confirms the authenticity of the manufactured products.

Take into account: if the numbers do not match, then the product is without registration number, it's fake.

Other Applications

During its existence, the barcode has shown how practical it is to use, especially when there are many items and units of products. Therefore, enterprises in different regions barcodes are widely used around the world .

On post offices, warehouses have a barcode applied to each separate unit, which allows you to track the movement of goods, their route even outside the state .

Passes, bank cards contain a barcode , which consists of slot readers.

The code with the number 2, 200-299 is used exclusively for internal needs. This encoding is not regulated by any other organization, since the use of a code with a leading digit of 2 outside of production is prohibited.

It is used in retail , and it may also contain information about the weight and quantity of products.

Watch the video that explains the features of using a barcode:

You may also be interested

Manufacturer barcode is a sequence of black and white stripes that represents some information in a form convenient for reading by technical means. The information contained in the code can be printed in a readable form under the code (decryption). Bar codes are used in trade, warehouse accounting, librarianship, security systems, postal services, assembly production, and document processing. In global trade practice, it is common to use EAN barcodes to label goods. In accordance with the accepted procedure, the manufacturer of the product applies a bar code to it, generated using data about the country of location of the manufacturer and the manufacturer’s code. The manufacturer code is assigned by the regional branch of the international organization EAN International. This registration procedure eliminates the possibility of two different products with the same codes appearing.

There are various ways of encoding information, called (barcode encodings or symbologies). There are linear and two-dimensional barcode symbologies.

Linear (ordinary), in contrast to two-dimensional, are barcodes that are readable in one direction (horizontally). The most common linear symbologies: EAN, UPC, Code39, Code128, Codabar, Interleaved 2 of 5. Linear symbologies allow you to encode a small amount of information (up to 20-30 characters - usually numbers) using simple barcodes readable by inexpensive scanners. Example EAN-13 symbology code:

Two-dimensional symbols are those designed to encode large amounts of information (up to several pages of text). 2D barcode is read using a special two-dimensional code scanner and allows you to quickly and accurately enter a large amount of information. Deciphering such a code is carried out in two dimensions (horizontally and vertically). Datamatrix, Data Glyph, Aztec.

The bar code can be applied during packaging production (by printing) or using self-adhesive labels that are printed using special printers.

Decoding the manufacturer's barcode

Using a bar code, information about some of the most important parameters of the product is encrypted. The most common are the American Universal Product Barcode UPC and the European EAN coding system. The most common EAN/UCC product numbers are EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, UPC-E and the 14-digit shipping packaging code ITF-14. There is also a 128-bit UCC/EAN-128 system. According to one system or another, each type of product is assigned its own number, most often consisting of 13 digits (EAN-13).

Take, for example, the digital code: 4820024700016. The first two digits (482) mean the country of origin (manufacturer or seller) of the product, the next 4 or 5 depending on the length of the country code (0024) - the manufacturer, five more (70001) - name of the product, its consumer properties, dimensions, weight, color. The last digit (6) is a control digit used to check whether the scanner is reading strokes correctly.

Barcode EAN-13

For "product code":

1. number: product name,

2. figure: consumer properties,

3. figure: dimensions, weight,

4. number: ingredients,

5. number: color.

An example of calculating a check digit to determine the authenticity of a product

1. Add the numbers in even places: 8+0+2+7+0+1=18

2. Multiply the resulting amount by 3: 18x3=54

3. Add the numbers in odd places without a check digit: 4+2+0+4+0+0=10

4. Add the numbers indicated in steps 2 and 3: 54+10=64

5. Discard tens: we get 4

6. Subtract from 10 what was obtained in step 5: 10-4=6

If the number obtained after calculation does not match the control number in the barcode, this means that the product was produced illegally.

Manufacturer barcode correspondence table for countries around the world