In a recent development, not only India but all other countries, as well, look at Chinese products with some suspicion and doubt.
The talk doing the rounds is the many Chinese products - whether it is milk powder or Chinese toys - contain toxic items.
Some people tend to prefer to buy Chinese products as they are relatively cheaper.This news-bit will be especially useful to them.
Ok, whether to buy or not is another topic – the question is how to confirm whether we are buying products from China or Tawan?
All of us aware that bar codes are being used to identify all items. Bar codes are in machine-readable format.
If the first 3 digits are 690,691, or 692, it means that the product is made in China.
If the first 3 digits are 471, it is made in Taiwan.
Thus, with the first 3 digits of the barcode, we can identify the country where the item was made.
It is some consolation for the buyer that expiry date cannot be printed as is being done in case of fake medicinal items.
So, let us get into the habit of checking the bar code when we buy a product.
Other counteries barcode details:
00-13: USA & Canada
20-29: In-Store Functions
30-37: France
40-44: Germany
45: Japan (also 49)
46: Russian Federation
471: Taiwan
474: Estonia
475: Latvia
477: Lithuania
479: Sri Lanka
480: Philippines
482: Ukraine
484: Moldova
485: Armenia
486: Georgia
487: Kazakhstan
489: Hong Kong
49: Japan (JAN-13)
50: United Kingdom
520: Greece
528: Lebanon
529: Cyprus
531: Macedonia
535: Malta
539: Ireland
54: Belgium & Luxembourg
560: Portugal
569: Iceland
57: Denmark
590: Poland
594: Romania
599: Hungary
600 & 601: South Africa
609: Mauritius
611: Morocco
613: Algeria
619: Tunisia
622: Egypt
625: Jordan
626: Iran
64: Finland
690-692: China
70: Norway
729: Israel
73: Sweden
740: Guatemala
741: El Salvador
742: Honduras
743: Nicaragua
744: Costa Rica
746: Dominican Republic
750: Mexico
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759: Venezuela
76: Switzerland
770: Colombia
773: Uruguay
775: Peru
777: Bolivia
779: Argentina
780: Chile
784: Paraguay
785: Peru
786: Ecuador
789: Brazil
80 – 83: Italy
84: Spain
850: Cuba
858: Slovakia
859: Czech Republic
860: Yugoslavia
869: Turkey
87: Netherlands
880: South Korea
885: Thailand
888: Singapore
890: India
893: Vietnam
899: Indonesia
90 & 91: Austria
93: Australia
94: New Zealand
955: Malaysia
977: International Standard Serial Number for Periodicals (ISSN)
978: International Standard Book Numbering (ISBN)
979: International Standard Music Number (ISMN)
980: Refund receipts
981 & 982: Common Currency Coupons
99: Coupons