GS1 Application Identifiers

What (01), (10), (17) and other GS1 codes mean.

A GS1 Application Identifier (AI) is a prefix of two to four digits that says what the data after it means and how it's formatted. In GS1-128, GS1 DataMatrix and GS1 QR codes, several AIs can be strung together in one barcode: (01) followed by a 14-digit GTIN, (17) and a YYMMDD expiry date, (10) and a batch number. The brackets are printed in the human-readable text for people but aren't encoded in the barcode.

Some AIs are always the same length, such as (01) and (17), so a scanner knows where they end. Variable-length ones, such as (10) batch and (21) serial number, need an FNC1 separator when another AI follows. Putting fixed-length AIs first and the variable-length one last avoids a separator and keeps the barcode shorter. The format column uses GS1's notation: n for a digit, X for a character from GS1's set of 82, and ..20 for up to 20.

Filter Application Identifiers

38 entries

Identification keys

The numbers that identify a product, a logistic unit, a location or an asset.

AI	Data title	Format	FNC1 after	Meaning
(00)	SSCC	n2+n18	No	Serial Shipping Container Code: one pallet, parcel or other logistic unit
(01)	GTIN	n2+n14	No	Global Trade Item Number of the item, written as 14 digits
(02)	CONTENT	n2+n14	No	GTIN of the items contained in a logistic unit (used with AI 37)
(253)	GDTI	n3+n13+X..17	Yes, if not last	Global Document Type Identifier, with optional serial component
(414)	LOC No.	n3+n13	No	Global Location Number (GLN) of a physical location
(8003)	GRAI	n4+n14+X..16	Yes, if not last	Global Returnable Asset Identifier, such as a crate or keg
(8004)	GIAI	n4+X..30	Yes, if not last	Global Individual Asset Identifier for fixed assets

Batch, serial and variants

AI	Data title	Format	FNC1 after	Meaning
(10)	BATCH/LOT	n2+X..20	Yes, if not last	Batch or lot number
(20)	VARIANT	n2+n2	No	Internal product variant
(21)	SERIAL	n2+X..20	Yes, if not last	Serial number, unique for one item of a GTIN
(22)	CPV	n2+X..20	Yes, if not last	Consumer product variant
(240)	ADDITIONAL ID	n3+X..30	Yes, if not last	Additional product identification assigned by the manufacturer
(241)	CUST. PART No.	n3+X..30	Yes, if not last	Customer part number
(250)	SECONDARY SERIAL	n3+X..30	Yes, if not last	Serial number of a component inside the item

Dates

Dates are YYMMDD. A day of 00 means the last day of the month (not allowed for every AI).

AI	Data title	Format	FNC1 after	Meaning
(11)	PROD DATE	n2+n6	No	Production date
(12)	DUE DATE	n2+n6	No	Payment due date (on payment slips)
(13)	PACK DATE	n2+n6	No	Packaging date
(15)	BEST BEFORE or BEST BY	n2+n6	No	Best before date: quality, not safety
(16)	SELL BY	n2+n6	No	Sell by date
(17)	USE BY or EXPIRY	n2+n6	No	Expiration date: do not use after (safety, medicines)
(7003)	EXPIRY TIME	n4+n10	Yes, if not last	Expiration date and time, YYMMDDHHMM

Measures, counts and amounts

The last digit of 310n, 320n, 330n and 392n is the number of decimal places: 3103 000750 is 0.750 kg.

AI	Data title	Format	FNC1 after	Meaning
(30)	VAR. COUNT	n2+n..8	Yes, if not last	Count of items in a variable-quantity item
(37)	COUNT	n2+n..8	Yes, if not last	Count of trade items in a logistic unit (used with AI 02)
(310n)	NET WEIGHT (kg)	n4+n6	No	Net weight in kilograms, n decimal places
(320n)	NET WEIGHT (lb)	n4+n6	No	Net weight in pounds, n decimal places
(330n)	GROSS WEIGHT (kg)	n4+n6	No	Logistic gross weight in kilograms, n decimal places
(390n)	AMOUNT	n4+n..15	Yes, if not last	Amount payable in local currency, n decimal places
(392n)	PRICE	n4+n..15	Yes, if not last	Price of a variable-measure item in local currency, n decimal places

Orders and shipping

AI	Data title	Format	FNC1 after	Meaning
(400)	ORDER NUMBER	n3+X..30	Yes, if not last	Customer's purchase order number
(401)	GINC	n3+X..30	Yes, if not last	Global Identification Number for Consignment
(402)	GSIN	n3+n17	Yes, if not last	Global Shipment Identification Number
(410)	SHIP TO LOC	n3+n13	No	Ship to or deliver to: GLN of the destination
(420)	SHIP TO POST	n3+X..20	Yes, if not last	Ship to postal code within one country
(421)	SHIP TO POST	n3+n3+X..9	Yes, if not last	Ship to postal code with a 3-digit ISO country code
(422)	ORIGIN	n3+n3	Yes, if not last	Country of origin of the item (ISO 3166 numeric)
(8020)	REF No.	n4+X..25	Yes, if not last	Payment slip reference number

Company internal

AI	Data title	Format	FNC1 after	Meaning
(90)	INTERNAL	n2+X..30	Yes, if not last	Information mutually agreed between trading partners
(91-99)	INTERNAL	n2+X..90	Yes, if not last	Company internal information

Good to know

Best before or use by?

AI (15) best before is about quality: the product is still safe after it. AI (17) expiry or use by is about safety, and is the one used for medicines and medical devices.

Reading AIs from a scan

Scanners usually send FNC1 separators as the invisible ASCII character 29 (GS), and many prefix the data with ]C1 for GS1-128 or ]d2 for GS1 DataMatrix so software knows to parse AIs.