Africa-Press – Namibia. NAMIBIAN manufacturers without barcodes on their products will soon be able to apply for them for as little as N$150. This is according to an awareness advert by GS1 Namibia, sharing information on how to apply for barcodes with local businesses.
A barcode is a unique sequence of numbers that track a product in retail environments. These numbers represent the country code, manufacturer code, product code, and check digit.
A manufacturer producing bottles of cooldrink in 300ml, 600ml and 1,5 litres for example will need to ensure each size has its own barcode. “If all products go through the point of sale, you will require unique barcodes,” reads the advert.
“They are used for quick identification and in retail stores as part of the purchase process, in warehouses to track inventory and on invoices to assist in accounting.” GS1 Namibia is set to become the barcode centre in the country.
Last month, the Namibia Trade Forum’s chief executive officer, Stacey Pinto, said after a long and arduous journey, Namibia was finally accepted as a member of GS1 Global in May 2021. The Namibia Barcode Centre (now GS1 Namibia) is now the official and authorised custodian and administrator of the Namibian barcode prefix 631.
At the moment, Namibian products are barcoded in South Africa. Those with existing barcodes will not be required to change them when GS1 Namibia starts issuing codes, and payment of South African issued barcodes would still need to be paid to GS1 South Africa.
The process of acquiring a barcode starts with the manufacturer identifying how many barcodes the company would require, considering the expansion of product ranges. Thereafter, it is expected to take up approximately 48 hours for a barcode to be registered and issued, if documentation and payments are in order. Email: [email protected]
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
