Programmers Manuals

Appendix I: Barcodes
6/08 92 51195 Rev. 1
What is an EAN Barcode?
The European Article Number Barcode System is used outside of the Americas,
and is 13-digits long.
• An EAN Barcode (also known as GTIN-13) is similar to the UPC barcode.
• The EAN-13 Barcode is defined by GS1.
• The EAN Barcode can be read both by UPC and by EAN scanners.
• As of Jan 2005, all American retailers were scheduled to be able to read the
additional 13th digit in EAN Barcodes.
The EAN-13 Box Label format encodes thirteen (13) numerals, divided into four
parts.
System Code
The first two or three (2-3) digits identifies the country in which the manufacturer is
registered.
─ Not necessarily where the product is actually made.
Manufacturer Code
Four or five (4-5) digits, depending on the length of the system or country code.
Product Code
Five (5) digits.
Check Digit
One (1) checksum digit detects all single digit errors.
NOTE: See Appendix II for a complete format display.