GS1 General Specifications  

The GS1 General Specifications are the core standards document describing how barcodes and identification keys should be used to comply with GS1 AIDC Standards.  As AIDC matures, it is still the means of automated identification and is expanding into more and more sectors such as in Healthcare and leveraging new technologies including GS1 DataBar™ to meet the growing needs of a data hungry world.  In fact, more data being carried by new data carriers in new applications and sectors represents the true future of GS1 AIDC. It isn't just new technology; it's the use of additional data to solve business problems.  This new version of the GS1 General Specifications is a step in that direction.  To access the updated version of the General Specifications, please contact your local Member Organisation.  You can find your local GS1 Office via this link: http://www.gs1.org/contact.
 
The important updates/additions to the GS1 General Specifications V10 include:

Global Healthcare AIDC Application Standards:  A range of global AIDC application standards for Healthcare using the GS1 System Standards have been approved to set a common direction for all product types and package levels.  The main focus is patient safety while being aware that improvement of supply chain management and performance will be achieved at the same time.  In order to improve patient safety, our goal is to enable AIDC marking of healthcare products to allow every healthcare professional with the ability to gather the necessary information on the products in hand using one device (reader/scanner) per work station and utilize a common data set to automatically identify healthcare products from every corner of the globe.  An example of this common data set includes the newly added Application Identifier for "Active Potency".   
 
Application Standards for Small Medical and Surgical instruments:  The addition of a small medical / surgical instruments specific marking standard for Healthcare using the GS1 System Standards is intended to set a common direction for direct marking of small medical / surgical instruments.  These additions define practical AIDC based identification and direct part marking of small medical / surgical instruments for tracking & traceability through the instruments reprocessing cycle. GTIN Indicator Digits Rules:  In the area of the use of Indicator Digits, there currently exist various translations / interpretations of the GS1 General Specifications that has led to divergent implementations, ultimately causing supply chain confusion.  Updates to the GTIN Indicator Digits Rules, promoting a uniform and globally harmonized position, will encourage adoption that ensures patient safety and not patient risk due to over-labeling.  This uniform position includes the clearly stated need for non-POS databases to be enabled to manage a 14 digit Global Trade Item Number (GTIN).

Expanding GS1 Standards for GS1 DataBar™:  Retailers are now globally implementing =and/or piloting product identification using GS1 DataBar™. The new GS1 Standards provide the tools that enable additional GS1 Application Identifiers (weight, price, sell-by date, etc.) to be encoded and captured anywhere in the supply chain. Implementing GS1 DataBar™ will provide the data needed to solve business problems such as consumer safety and traceability programs, quality control and Point-Of-Sale processing.  Use of GS1 Keys as a World Customs Organisation (WCO) Unique Consignment Reference (UCR):  The World Customs Organisation (WCO) has published guidelines for the Unique Consignment Reference (UCR) that requires the sender (consignor) of goods to identify physical grouping of several transport or logistic units to be identified with a single UCR. This UCR is used by customs authorities to identify these groupings of transport units during the import or export processes.  This makes the UCR an integral part of the customs declaration process which can be enabled with the GS1 Key; Global Shipment Identification Number (GSIN).

Reducing cost and enabling requirements of European Regulation:  European Regulation (European Regulation No 275/2007) and customer requirements have been addressed regarding the labeling of beef and beef products.  These changes enable the implementation of simplified beef labeling for representing multiple processing halls in one batch. This will simplify the operational procedures and reduce costs arising by the separate handling that currently takes place. 

Additional Updates:

Increased capacity for Euro denominated Coupons: GS1 manages coupon issuer identification numbers and provides a common data structure for automatic coupon identification.  In order to meet the continued demand, additional capacity has been allocated for coupons denominated with the Euro currency.

Clarification: GS1 is consistently looking for opportunities to improve our Standards and have made updates to ensure that the GS1 General Specifications continue to be the place to go for AIDC Standards.