The GS1 system is used in more than 20 industries, from fresh foods and foodservice to apparel, DIY etc. from transport and logistics to specific segments such as health, defense or aerospace.
In GS1 in Europe, we are dedicated to supporting the use of GS1 standards in these sectors and work with both the users and GS1 Member Organisations to produce common recommendations for the whole European region.
In this section, you will access all the guidelines, publications, project documents and deliverables on the topics you are interested in.
Just choose your activity, log in, and you are ready to download or just browse.
Together with European associations and industry GS1 in Europe is working on a self regulation on alcoholic beverages in order let industry provide nutritional and allergens information on alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic beverages are defined as wines, spirits and beers.
GS1 in Europe has worked with the European Central Bank (ECB) and many National Central Banks (NCB) in Europe to establish rules around the use of GS1 standards in the cash supply chain. Once line work has been defined with NCB, the main goal of cash handling group at this stage is to attract other stakeholders in order to consolidate and extend the implementation of the standards defined with ECB and NCB.
In addition, cash handling group will analyze if and how new GS1 standards (EPCIS, cloud for locations, DigitalLink etc.) can be used in the sector.
Retailers, cash-in-transit companies (CIT) and commercial banks are further important cash handling stakeholders. The goal of the cash handling group is to involve them to implement GS1 standards for cash logistics and management.
At national level, each country will define how to address the goals defined by the working group. National strategies are based on the common European objectives of the project
Some main topics are:
For further information, you can contact Giada Necci (GS1 Italy), Tilo Arnold (GS1 Germany) and Albert Arbonés (GS1 Spain).
The customer journey section on this website is designed like a guided tour. Each chapter starts with an overview, then shows specific measures, services, tools and MO best practices. If applicable there are also must-have and nice-to-have recommendations at the end of each chapter. The website-guide should provide new insights and helpful take-aways that are easy to implement and based on practical experience to set-up or improve your own customer journey – no matter of size or maturity of your MO.
Sharing information with consumers has become vital. European users and regulators expect a harmonised approach. GS1 standards allow the various stakeholders to exchange business-to-business but also business-to-consumer data in a reliable and secured way.
The B2B2C group, which consists of technical experties from the European member organisations come together on a regular basis in order to solve and harmonise technical questions that are raised within countries.
Within GS1 in Europe activities on data exchange and data quality are organbised on a regional level.
The Data Excellence Steering Committee is in charge of developing and implementing a common strategy for GS1 GDSN, GS1 Source, data quality and digital content. The Committee provides a platform to promote best practices around GS1 data management solutions.
The EU Regulation 1169/2011 on food labelling has had a huge impact of on all parties involved in the food supply chain. GS1 and its partners have worked together to ensure that GS1 standards comply with the new requirements.
Download the latest version of our guidelines on the use of GS1 standards here.
From the data excellence working groups, every year some topics are prioritised and worked on in detail throughout the year. One of the best examples of this is the Global Data Model, which partly started as a European effort in order to harmonise the local data models for the European continent. This project has gone global with the help of GS1 Global Office, other regions and member organisations and of course massive industry envolvement. In April 2020 the global data model for the product categories Food, Near-Food Pet Food, Alcoholic Beverages will have been ratified as a GS1 standard with regional and global governance. Next steps within this project are validations, harmonisation of code lists and the start on new product categories.
This activity aims at monitoring the European regulations that might have an impact on our customers’ businesses. We also cooperate with European trade associations to ensure that our respective activities are complementary.
Illicit trade and product counterfeiting are serious problems affecting our member companies and their supply chains, authorities, consumers and patients. Unfortunately no sector is immune to the risks of this criminal activity. GS1 is working proactively with authorities, member companies and relevant stakeholders to enable GS1 standards to be a valuable component to any solution targeted at detecting, deterring and disrupting counterfeit and illicit trade activities.
The “Recommendations for EU Regulation 2018/574 implementation while minimising retail supply chain disruption” provides suggestions to MOs on how to minimise retail supply chain issues while correctly implementing the recent EU tobacco track and trace rules to fight against illicit trade.
The document includes MOs recommendations for a consistent GS1 standards-based implementation of the new EU regulation taking into account:
In case of questions please write to fit@gs1.org
The fruit and vegetables business is a global business with suppliers from all parts of the world. The sector has made a clear decision to adopt the GS1 System to improve the efficiency of the supply chain.
As the fruit & vegetable industry faces its own complexities and specific requirements, GS1 in Europe created a common European framework together with business specialists from suppliers, retailers and association like FrugICom.
This expert group addresses all aspects of the Global GS1 system and applying it to the needs of the fruit and vegetable industry.
This framework consists of specific guidelines and implementation material for the industry and its stakeholders, being growers, packers, traders, retailers and food service providers in Europe as well as for their international trading partners. The overall aim is to support efficient supply chain processes and ensure food safety.
Current focus topics are:
For further information you can contact Klaus Förderer (GS1 Germany) and Ferran Domenech (GS1 Spain).
The international healthcare sector is embracing many regulations and developments at the moment, and the challenge of complying with these various requirements has become evident. Healthcare manufacturers and care providers are therefore looking to GS1 for the answer to this increasingly growing complex problem.
ECHO (Extending the Collaboration of Healthcare Organisations) is a collaboration of GS1 Member Organisations together with healthcare stakeholders to align efforts and create a clear strategy in the exchange of product data via GDSN (Global Data Synchronisation Network).
What is ECHO?
Healthcare providers are under constant pressure to provide good quality care with less costs, and it is important to reduce errors and optimize processes. Manufacturers on the other hand are faced with an avalanche of requirements from various countries with different regulations, languages and business needs.
The ECHO (Extending the Collaboration of Healthcare Organisations) initiative focuses on harmonising market strategies and data requirements across borders in order to maximise the benefits of using the Global Data Synchronisation Network (GDSN), the global standard for data exchange.
GS1 has been designated by the European Commission as issuing entity for Unique Device Identifiers (UDIs). GS1 global standards meet the EU Commission’s criteria for the issuance of UDIs, supporting the EU regulators in ensuring a successful implementation of the UDI system as defined by the EU Medical Device Regulation and In-Vitro Diagnostics Medical Devices Regulation (EU Regulations), and enabling manufacturers to comply with these requirements.
What is UDI (in Europe)?
The Unique Device Identification (UDI) is a system used to mark and identify medical devices within the healthcare supply chain. Next to the device identifier (Global Trade Item Number, GTIN) in the EU regulation a new identifier for UDI is introduced: the “Basic UDI-DI” (the Global Model Number, GMN), which allows to group medical devices with similar features within the EU regulatory database EUDAMED. On top of that, if applicable, a production identifier (Application Identifier, AI) can be assigned by the manufacturer.
Benefits
The implementation of UDI can enhance patient safety and improve efficiency in the healthcare supply chain. It will enable more accurate reports of adverse events, more effective management of medical device recalls and reduction of medical errors.
Additional information
Below you can find some additional information on the UDI in the EU and worldwide.
For questions, more information or assistance please contact Anna Gawronska (GS1 Poland) or contact your local Member Organisation.
In order to collaborate you have to innovate. Within GS1 in Europe an Innovation Network has been created. Some of the goals of this group are: Meet and share experience & knowledge
- Encourage multi-MO initiatives
- Establish centres of excellence for various themes of innovation
- Create a collaboration space to share experience, articles and POC
- Create opportunity to collaborate with GS1 innovation teams and to support a mutual exchange of experience and education within and between member organisations
Some of the activities of the Innovation Network are also open for others. In May 2020 GS1 in Europe is organising it first ever hackathon “Boosting radically honest products with AI and data”. This hackathon will have three main topics: sustainability, nutrition and Personalization/Individualization. It will use techniques like Computer Vision/AR/VR, Data mining, Artificial Intelligence and Cloud technologies.
The GS1 in Europe an Innovation Network is led by Ramona Swhajor (GS1 Germany).
The Last Mile project has it’s focus at the market of parcel delivery. And to be exact, the delivery to the end consumer. The world of parcel delivery is changing, due to marketplaces but also because of changes in legislation and regulations. GS1 in Europe must stay involved.
Marketplaces are creating truly global supply chains for both B2C and B2B (consumer electronics, spare parts, technical industries) that will (partly) replace existing local ones. Furthermore they are providing Supply Chain/Logistics services to sellers on their platform. For incoming goods they are working more and more with GS1 SSCC, but they are still using carrier specific codes for out bound parcels.
The EU has mandated CEN to set open standards to link customs declaration processes into cross border supply chains to enable VAT collection for Low Value Consignments and protect EU businesses and consumers (to be operational by end of 2020!). Local authorities implement regulations that stimulate carriers to work together to enable deliveries with a lower environmental foot print (city hubs)
GS1 in Europe should get involved to protect the investment of our existing members in implementing the SSCC to facilitate they logistic processes:
The objectives for the last mile project within GS1 in Europe are:
This can be achieved by building and maintaining the relevant standards within CEN to facilitate the use of GS1 identifiers, intensify Industry engagement and start pilot projects and finally promoting the use of GS1 standards in e-commerce sector (Marketplaces, online shops) and within the transport & logistics sector (mainly courier and fulfilment companies).
The project is lead by Frits van den Bos (GS1 Netherlands) and Agata Horzela (GS1 Poland).
One of the key projects identified by GS1 in Europe is the Cloud for Locations project or the Location Registry project. The objective is clear: enhance the GS1 value proposition in location identification by developing our current offer and build functional requirements in order to launch a location registry. Some MOs already have tools for GLNs, but they are hardly used.
Based on a customer centric approach, the project is focusing on:
The project has resulted in a functional specifications document, with amongst others:
The next step is connecting industry to validate the current requirements and work together with other regions and the global office to harmonise the functional specifications and work on a global GLN registry.
The project is led by Sara Kalboussi (GS1 France).
Companies selling products online, through Google or an online retailer will more than likely be asked for a barcode, a product identifier, a GTIN or EAN number. GS1 is here to help companies get started online.