When imported goods arrive, they have to go into your system before they can be sold: item master, warehouse locations, till, webshop, and often a retailer’s supplier portal. Every one of those needs barcodes and product data. Ask for it with the order and the stock goes on sale the week it lands; chase it afterwards and pallets sit in the warehouse while someone measures cartons by hand.
| Level | Usual barcode | What it identifies | Used by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer unit (bottle, pack) | EAN-13 (GTIN-13) | The product as sold at the till. | Point of sale, webshop, shelf labels. |
| Case / outer carton | ITF-14 or EAN-13 (a separate GTIN) | The trade unit: a fixed number of consumer units. | Goods-in, warehouse picking, ordering. |
| Pallet | GS1-128 logistics label with an 18-digit SSCC | That one physical pallet in that shipment. | Receiving, track and trace, despatch advice. |
The case code is not the consumer code: a 24-can tray and the single can inside it carry different numbers. Mixing them up is the commonest reason a delivery “does not scan” at goods-in.
No. The first digits of an EAN-13 show which GS1 member organisation issued the number — 590 is GS1 Poland — not where the goods were made. A product made in Germany for a Polish brand owner can carry 590; a product made in Poland for an Italian brand can carry an Italian prefix. Country of origin comes from the label and the documents, not the barcode.
The GTIN belongs to the brand owner who licensed it from GS1. For branded goods, keep the manufacturer’s barcode: covering it with your own sticker breaks the link to the brand’s product data and can confuse retailers. If you need your own numbers — for a private label range, for example — you license them from the GS1 organisation in your own country. Local-language stickers for labelling rules are a separate matter and should not hide the barcode.
Before the goods ship, ask for one row per line with at least:
Large retailers often want this through a GS1 data pool (GDSN) rather than a spreadsheet. If you supply them, say so early; brand owners publish their data there, but a wholesaler can usually only pass on what the brand provides.
Ask for photos of the case label and a consumer unit from the actual stock, and compare the barcodes with your data sheet. It is the same logic as a pre-shipment inspection: a variant with a different EAN (a new recipe, another market’s pack) is much easier to fix before loading than after.
Send the list of fields your system or your customer needs, in their format if you have one. We will confirm in writing what we can supply for each line before you order.
Related reading: the EU export documents checklist, cosmetics labelling for export, and pre-shipment inspection for FMCG orders.
Ordering a few pallets rather than a full truck: how groupage and part loads are priced, how to cut the cost per case, packing, transit times and paperwork.
Published 26 October 2026How an EU customs warehouse suspends import duty and VAT on non-EU goods, what handling is allowed, guarantees and records, and how re-export ends the procedure.
Published 24 October 2026What to check before you sign the CMR, how to write a reservation that holds up, the 7- and 21-day deadlines, the carrier's liability cap and what a claim needs.
Published 24 October 2026Send the products, quantities and the data fields you need. We reply with a written quote and confirm what data comes with it.
