What is GS1 and Why Does It Matter for DPPs

Ta članek še ni na voljo v vašem jeziku, zato je prikazan v angleščini.

What is GS1?

GS1 is a global, not-for-profit organisation that develops and maintains standards for business communication, with a particular focus on supply chain management and product identification. Founded in 1973 as the Uniform Code Council (the organisation behind the original barcode), GS1 has grown into the world's most widely used system for product identification, serving over two million member companies across more than 110 countries.

The barcodes you see on virtually every retail product worldwide, whether the familiar linear barcodes on groceries or the two-dimensional codes on electronics packaging, are based on GS1 standards. But GS1's scope extends far beyond barcodes. The organisation maintains a comprehensive suite of standards for identifying products, locations, assets, and shipments, and for sharing information about them across global supply chains.

For Digital Product Passports, GS1 standards provide the foundational identification infrastructure. The unique identifiers that link physical products to their digital passports, and the data carriers that encode those identifiers, are built on GS1 standards. Understanding GS1 is therefore essential for anyone implementing or working with DPPs.

Core GS1 Standards for Product Identification

GS1 maintains several identification standards, but two are of primary importance for Digital Product Passports:

Global Trade Item Number (GTIN): The GTIN is GS1's standard identifier for products. Every product sold in retail carries a GTIN, which uniquely identifies the product type (not individual units). GTINs come in several formats, GTIN-8, GTIN-12, GTIN-13, and GTIN-14, depending on the application and geographic context. The familiar 13-digit barcode number on European products is a GTIN-13.

Serial Number (AI 21): While the GTIN identifies the product type, the serial number identifies the individual unit. By combining a GTIN with a serial number (using GS1 Application Identifier 21), a globally unique identifier is created for each individual product. This combination is essential for Digital Product Passports, which require item-level identification.

Additional GS1 identifiers relevant to DPPs include:

• Global Location Number (GLN): Identifies physical locations, legal entities, or organisational units. Relevant for DPP data fields that specify manufacturing locations or company details.
• Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC): Identifies logistics units such as pallets and containers. Relevant for supply chain traceability data.
• Global Document Type Identifier (GDTI): Identifies documents such as compliance certificates or test reports that may be linked to DPP records.

GS1 Digital Link: The Key Standard for DPPs

Of all GS1 standards, GS1 Digital Link is the most directly relevant to Digital Product Passports. GS1 Digital Link is a standard that structures GS1 identifiers as web URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers), enabling them to be resolved via the internet to product information.

A GS1 Digital Link URI takes a form such as: https://id.gs1.org/01/09506000134352/21/ABC123. In this example, "01" indicates a GTIN, "09506000134352" is the GTIN value, "21" indicates a serial number, and "ABC123" is the serial number value. When this URI is accessed, a resolver directs the request to the appropriate destination based on context, a consumer might be directed to product information, a retailer to logistics data, and a regulator to compliance documentation.

For DPPs, GS1 Digital Link provides several critical capabilities:

• It creates a web-resolvable unique identifier for each individual product, linking the physical item to its digital passport.
• It can be encoded into any data carrier technology (QR codes, NFC tags, RFID chips), providing flexibility in physical implementation.
• It supports context-based resolution, enabling different stakeholders to access different information from the same identifier.
• It is backwards-compatible with existing retail scanning infrastructure, meaning a single QR code can serve both traditional retail purposes and DPP access.

Why the ESPR References GS1 Standards

The ESPR does not mandate the use of GS1 standards by name, but its requirements align closely with GS1 capabilities. The regulation requires that each product have a unique identifier, that this identifier be encoded in a data carrier on the product, and that the identifier resolve to the product's DPP data. GS1's combination of GTINs, serial numbers, Digital Link, and established data carrier standards provides a ready-made solution for these requirements.

Several factors make GS1 the de facto standard for DPP identification:

Existing adoption: GS1 identifiers are already used by the vast majority of products sold in the EU. Leveraging this existing infrastructure avoids the cost and disruption of implementing an entirely new identification system.

Global interoperability: GS1 standards are used in over 110 countries, ensuring that DPP identifiers work across international supply chains. This is particularly important for the EU, where supply chains routinely cross national boundaries.

Proven scalability: GS1 systems already handle billions of product identifiers. The infrastructure to generate, manage, and resolve identifiers at the scale required by the ESPR already exists.

Stakeholder consensus: Industry bodies, standardisation organisations, and regulatory authorities have broadly converged on GS1 as the identification framework for DPPs. The ESPR regulation reflects this consensus.

How GS1 Membership Works

To use GS1 identifiers, businesses must become members of their national GS1 Member Organisation (for UK businesses, this is GS1 UK). Membership provides access to a GS1 Company Prefix, a unique numeric prefix that the company uses as the basis for generating its GTINs and other identifiers.

The membership process and costs vary by country and by the size of the business:

• Registration involves applying to the national GS1 Member Organisation and paying an initial registration fee.
• Annual fees are typically based on company turnover, with lower fees for smaller businesses.
• Members receive a GS1 Company Prefix and access to GS1 tools for generating and managing identifiers.
• Some Member Organisations offer additional services such as barcode verification, training, and implementation support.

For businesses that already have GS1 membership (which includes most companies that sell physical products through retail channels), the infrastructure for DPP-compliant identification is largely in place. The main additional step is implementing serial-number generation to move from product-type identification (GTIN alone) to item-level identification (GTIN plus serial number).

For businesses new to GS1, the investment in membership is modest relative to the benefits. A GS1 Company Prefix provides not only the foundation for DPP compliance but also access to the global retail scanning infrastructure.

GS1 and the DPP Data Model

Beyond identification, GS1 standards contribute to the broader DPP data model in several ways:

GS1 Application Identifiers (AIs): GS1 defines a system of Application Identifiers that standardise how different types of data are encoded alongside product identifiers. AIs exist for batch numbers, production dates, expiration dates, weight, dimensions, and many other data elements. These structured data elements can supplement the core identifier with additional product information.

GS1 Global Data Model: GS1 maintains a data model that standardises how product information is structured and shared between trading partners. This model covers product attributes, classification, and descriptive data that align with many DPP data requirements.

GS1 EPCIS (Electronic Product Code Information Services): EPCIS is a GS1 standard for capturing and sharing event data about products as they move through the supply chain. EPCIS events record what happened, when, where, and why, providing the supply chain traceability data that DPPs require.

Together, these standards form a comprehensive framework for product identification, data structuring, and supply chain visibility, all of which feed into Digital Product Passport requirements.

Implementing GS1 for Your Digital Product Passports

For businesses preparing to implement DPPs with GS1 standards, the practical steps are straightforward:

Step 1: Secure GS1 membership. If you do not already have a GS1 Company Prefix, apply for membership with your national GS1 Member Organisation. This provides the foundation for generating compliant identifiers.

Step 2: Implement serialisation. Move beyond product-type identification (GTIN only) to item-level identification (GTIN plus serial number). This requires integrating serial number generation into your production processes. See our detailed guide on product serialisation for DPPs.

Step 3: Adopt GS1 Digital Link. Structure your serialised identifiers as GS1 Digital Link URIs that can be encoded into QR codes or other data carriers on your products.

Step 4: Set up resolution. Configure a resolver service that directs scans of your GS1 Digital Link URIs to the appropriate DPP data. This can be handled by your DPP platform, a third-party resolver service, or a custom implementation.

Step 5: Generate data carriers. Produce QR codes (or other chosen data carriers) encoding your GS1 Digital Link URIs and integrate them into your product labelling and packaging processes.

MyProductPassport and GS1 Integration

DPP platforms like MyProductPassport are designed to work with GS1 standards out of the box. The platform supports GS1-compatible identifier structures, generates QR codes encoding GS1 Digital Link URIs, and provides resolution services that direct scans to the correct DPP data.

For businesses that already have GS1 GTINs, the platform can incorporate existing identifiers into the DPP framework, adding serial numbers and generating the corresponding data carriers. For businesses new to GS1, the platform generates UUID-based identifiers that provide equivalent functionality and can be transitioned to GS1 identifiers when membership is established.

The key point is that GS1 standards and DPP requirements are converging. Investing in GS1-compliant identification now is an investment in DPP readiness. The standards are mature, widely adopted, and aligned with the regulatory direction of the ESPR. For businesses serious about Digital Product Passport compliance, GS1 is not just an option, it is the practical foundation upon which successful DPP implementations are built.

Looking Ahead: GS1 and the Future of DPPs

GS1 continues to evolve its standards in alignment with DPP requirements. Active developments include:

• Enhanced resolver services that support the complex access-control requirements of DPPs, where different stakeholders have different data access rights.
• Integration with EPCIS 2.0, which provides richer event data capturing and sharing capabilities aligned with DPP supply chain traceability requirements.
• Collaboration with European standardisation bodies to ensure that GS1 standards meet the specific technical requirements set out in ESPR delegated acts.
• Development of tools and guidance specifically for SMEs, recognising that small businesses need accessible, affordable pathways to GS1-based DPP compliance.

The convergence of GS1 standards and DPP requirements creates a clear pathway for businesses. By building on the global identification infrastructure that GS1 provides, Digital Product Passports can be implemented efficiently, cost-effectively, and at the scale that the ESPR demands. For a deeper understanding of the specific standard, explore our comprehensive guide to GS1 Digital Link.