EAN-13
Standardised in 1977 by the body now known as GS1, EAN-13 extended North American UPC-A by a single digit to accommodate a country or issuing-authority prefix, and it became the retail product identifier in use across more than a hundred countries. Thirteen numeric digits close with a Mod 10 check digit. The nominal symbol matches UPC-A dimensions: an X-dimension of 0.264 mm, a bar height of 22.85 mm, a 1:1.5 aspect ratio, and quiet zones of eleven and seven modules. The thirteenth digit occupies no bars of its own. It is carried implicitly by the parity sequence of the six left-hand digits, which is how a thirteen-digit value fits a symbol no wider than a twelve-digit UPC-A. EAN-13 is a GS1 data carrier representing a GTIN-13, and alphabetic data falls outside its character set.
The European Article Number 13-digit barcode is the global standard for retail product identification, used in over 100 countries. It extends UPC-A with a country prefix digit, making it the worldwide successor that maintains backward compatibility with North American UPC scanners.
EAN-13
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