GS1 standards used to refer to the ‘brand owner’ being responsible for allocating GTINs to products. However, to reflect the diverse nature of businesses using GS1 standards and the different ways our standards now need to be applied, particularly with the spread of trade on online marketplaces, we have updated the terminology in our standards.
The term ‘GTIN allocator’ is used to broadly and consistently refer to the party responsible for allocation of GTINs to trade items. This term is harmonised with the historical use of the term brand owner.
Branded items
For branded items, the brand owner is responsible for allocating GTINs to the items. However, there will be situations where someone else assumes the role of GTIN allocator. This might include importers or wholesalers or any party that is taking responsibility for items which have not been assigned a GTIN.
Downstream parties, such as distributors, wholesalers, importers and merchants, should not assign a different GTIN to a trade item that already has a GTIN, provided that the trade item is not changed in a way that would require a new GTIN as per the GTIN management standard.
For further information on which parties are responsible for allocating GTINs, see section 4 of the General Specifications.