GS1 standards for safe and efficient trade
<\/strong>Companies in the TSL (transport, forwarding, logistics) industry, when implementing improvement solutions in the field of Automatic Data Capture (ADC) and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), most often created their own, so-called individual / private solutions in this area. This was mainly due to insufficient knowledge of global standards and solutions in the field of ADC and EDI, as well as the effects of their application.<\/p>
Currently, clients of TSL companies, especially manufacturers and those trading in products from various industries on a mass scale, are increasingly basing their implementation of efficiency-enhancing e-economy systems, including ADC and EDI, solely on global GS1 system standards and solutions. This system has been operating globally for over 30 years and constitutes a compatible system enabling the use of unambiguous identifiers for goods, services, assets, locations, and logistics units, as well as their groupings, i.e., so-called shipments and consignments, worldwide, which are finding wider practical application day by day.<\/p>
The aforementioned global identifiers are additionally presented in the form of barcode symbols or radio tags, which enables their electronic reading wherever necessary in economic processes. Furthermore, they are used in electronic documents; hence, this system allows for a significant increase in trade efficiency and improves its ability to respond to customer needs. In addition to unique identification numbers, this system also provides additional information, such as expiration dates, serial numbers, and production batch numbers, which can also be presented in the form of barcodes.<\/p>
TSL companies, wishing to function effectively in the supply chain and applying the aforementioned solutions not only within their own company or parent corporation but also in contacts with their environment (mainly in contacts with their clients: suppliers and recipients of goods), should apply global standards. Some of these companies were obliged to do so when their clients began demanding that deliveries be marked in the form of logistics units (which are most often goods on a pallet) with so-called logistics labels featuring the global SSCC identifier.
Because by acting in accordance with the principles and essence of the GS1 system, users can design applications for automatic GS1 data processing, and the system logic guarantees that data collected using barcodes creates unambiguous electronic messages – it can be used in every branch of industry and trade.
Furthermore, the GS1 system architecture has been designed so that standards can be implemented among users in an optimal and non-disruptive manner.
Thanks to such GS1 system principles as openness, uniqueness, and transparency in using a single, open, business-oriented system of identification and information flow, it is possible to manage supply chains effectively in any sector or company in the world. For this reason, GS1 standards have also found particular application in international trade and the customs sector.<\/p>
World Customs Organization (WCO) and GS1 standards
<\/strong>The organization entrusted with ensuring the highest degree of harmonization and uniformity in customs systems, with particular attention to problems inherent in the development and improvement of customs procedures and customs law, was established in 1952 by 16 European countries and Turkey and was named the Customs Cooperation Council. Soon, the Customs Cooperation Council developed into an organization with global reach and influence, with a constantly increasing number of members. In 1994, it adopted the name World Customs Organization (WCO). Currently, there are 171 WCO organizations, which are responsible for a total of 99% of global trade in goods. Poland joined the WCO in 1974, and representatives of the Polish customs administration take an active part in committee sessions and thematic meetings organized by the World Customs Organization.
As early as 2004, the WCO officially recommended the so-called Unique Consignment Reference (UCR) as a way of identifying international shipments. The UCR was intended, among other things, to serve better information flow, security, and cost reduction. The essence of the Unique Consignment Reference is that the UCR imposes an obligation on the entity sending goods to identify a grouping, for example, several logistics units, with a single UCR. Such a UCR is used by customs units to identify a group of logistics units moved from a supplier, through a carrier / distributor, to a recipient during export or import processes.
Since the GS1 organization, which manages global standards in the field of the electronic economy, operates in 140 countries and in almost all industries, and GS1 global identifiers and GS1 Application Identifiers are used by manufacturers, traders, and logistics companies around the world, they have worked together with the WCO to refine the most beneficial solution for identifying all shipments.<\/p>
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 1/2011.<\/p>