European Article Numbering-Uniform Code Council (EAN-UCC) is the international organization of product barcodes that are printed on almost everything that is sold in stores worldwide.

Uniform Code Council (UCC) is the Numbering Organisation in the USA to administer and manage the EAN·UCC system standards in the USA and Canada.

GTIN is the EAN-UCC Global Trade Item Numbering system. GTIN numbers are 14 digits long. GTIN can be constructed using four numbering structures, depending upon the exact application and the bar code symbology to be used. The Numbering Structures that can be found in the 14-digit Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) are : EAN.UCC-14, (0+EAN.UCC-13), (00+UCC-12) and (000000+EAN.UCC-8).

EAN.UCC-13 is also called UPC-A. The EAN.UCC-8 is a 8-digit code used usually for very small articles, such as bubblegum, where fitting a larger code would be problematic.

The numbering structure is composed of:

• Zeros, right justified, to complete 14 digits.
• Country and Company prefix. Indicate the manufacturer are assigned by EAN.UCC
• Item (product or service) reference number.This part of the numbering structure is allocated by the user company. Each different trade item is allocated a different number and, for ease of administration, it is recommended that companies do this sequentially (001, 002, 003, etc.).
• And a check digit, the last one.

All books and serial publications sold internationally (including those in U.S. stores) have GTIN (EAN-UCC-13) codes. The book codes are constructed by prefixing the ISBN number with 978 and recalculating the trailing checksum digit.

EAN·UCC has a standard check-digit algorithm for all GTINs.

In February 2005, employees and booksellers of Barnes & Noble were informed that beginning at the end of March, their computer systems were going to add the ability to search by EAN to facilitate a switch over to the EAN from the current US standard of ISBN codes. Receipts will now list the EAN, rather than the ISBN. Yet, they [the computers] will still be able to search by ISBN (and UPC in the music departments) to help booksellers locate older books that have not been assigned an EAN number.

The Uniform Code Council requires manufacturers replace 12-digit UPC codes with 13-digit EAN codes by January 1, 2005; the U.S. ISBN agency requires publishers be able to communicate ISBN numbers as EAN-UCC-13 by the same date. The new 979 prefix for U.S. publications will be available on January 1, 2007 or upon assignment of the last 978 prefix.

See also

• Coeus Internet Explorer add-on adding built in EAN searching.
• EDI
• Global EAN Party Information Register a searchable distributed database of EAN codes

External links

• EAN-UCC.
• GTIN.
• ISBN 2005-2007 Transition.
• Free font and encoder.