European Article Numbering (EAN) Standard

EAN turned the American UPC into a global product numbering system, which is why a barcode scanned in Europe, Asia or the United States can identify the same item. The 13-digit EAN-13 added a leading digit so that numbering organizations in many countries could issue codes, while remaining fully compatible with UPC scanners. EAN signed a cooperation agreement with the U.S. Uniform Code Council in 1990 and merged with it in 2005 to form GS1. For cross-border sellers, a GS1 GTIN-13 is the identifier marketplaces and retailers expect, and warehouses routinely scan both 12-digit UPCs and 13-digit EANs on the same receiving dock.

• Universal Product CodeUPC12-digit retail barcode used in North America
• Global Trade Item NumberGTINGS1 product identifier used worldwide
• GS1-128 LabelStandard carton label with an SSCC barcode

• George Laurer1925–2019 · IBM engineer who designed the UPC

• First UPC Scan1974 · A pack of gum is the first UPC scanned at checkout
• Auto-ID Center1999 · MIT researchers develop the EPC and low-cost RFID tags
• Formation of GS12005 · EAN International and the UCC merge as GS1

1. GS1 Historical Timeline (GS1) support.gs1.org
2. GS1 (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org