The following guiding principles should be considered by any brand owner when making adjustments to an existing product or designing a GTIN assignment strategy for a new product. To necessitate a GTIN change, at least one of the guiding principles must be met.
- Is a consumer or trading partner expected to recognize the modified or new product from previous/current products?
- Is there a regulatory/liability disclosure need for the consumer and/or trading partner?
- Is there a significant influence on the supply chain (such as how the product is shipped, stored, and received)?
Implementing the GTIN Management Standard
The global standards organization, GS1, provides complex and comprehensive guidelines for identification. The GTIN Management Standard defines detailed directions for when a new GTIN is required to be assigned.
Aside from creating guidelines and administering GS1 Company Prefix/GTIN assignments, they also provide educational classes, enabling companies to understand how to implement them.
Rather than have a few employees go through GS1 certification, most companies opt for GS1 Barcode Support service. This annual subscription not only provides access to the GTIN.cloud portal to manage assignments and create barcodes, it also includes direct access to an assigned GS1 Barcode consultant.
GTIN Management Change Criteria
New Product Introduction
A “new product” is described as a product that does not now exist or has not previously been available for sale, and is a new addition to the brand owner’s portfolio/market.
Declared Formulation or Functionality
“Functionality” refers to the specific use or group of uses for which something is designed. “Formulation” refers to a list of the ingredients or components needed to make a commerce item.
Dimensional or Gross Weight Change
A physical dimension change on any axis, as well as a gross weight increase of more than 20%, necessitates the assignment of a new GTIN.
Declared Net Content
“Net Content” is defined as the quantity of the consumable product of the trade item contained in a package, as stated on the label, which may include net weight, volume, count, units, and so on.
Add/Remove Certification Mark
A modification in packaging to add or remove a new certification mark (e.g., kosher, UL, or CE) that is important to regulatory agencies, trading partners, or the end consumer necessitates the assignment of a new GTIN.
Primary Brand
The primary brand is the most recognized by the consumer, as defined by the brand owner, and can be represented by a logo and/or words.
Time Critical – Promotional Product
A change to a product being advertised (including packaging changes) for a certain event/date, which affects the required handling in the supply chain to ensure the Item is available for sale within a specified time period, necessitates a new GTIN.
Pack/Case Quantity
When the number of trade items in a case or the number of cases in a predefined pallet configuration changes, a new GTIN must be assigned.
Predefined Assortment
A predefined assortment is a physical item assortment/bundle that consists of a predetermined composition of two or more trade items that are mixed and sold as a single physical trade item.
Price on Pack
The term ‘price on pack’ refers to when a brand owner puts pre-pricing in the packaging artwork. This does not include a price printed on a price ticket, sticker, hangtag, or anything else that could be removed from the packaging or product.
