In July 2017, a new release of the GS1 General Specifications standard was published with a change included about the end of GTIN reuse. This update to the standard states that AFTER December 2018, a GTIN allocated to a trade item SHALL NOT be reallocated to another trade item. This applies to ALL trade items, regardless of sector.
The only exceptions include:
- If a GTIN has been assigned to an item, which was then never actually produced, the GTIN may be deleted from any catalogue immediately without first being marked as discontinued. In this exceptional case, the GTIN may be re-used 12 months after deletion from the seller's catalogue.
- Trade items that have been withdrawn from the market and are reintroduced may use the original GTIN if they are reintroduced without any modifications or changes that require a new GTIN as specified by the GTIN Management Standard
This industry-driven change will help companies get unique product identification "right" from the start. Keeping product identification truly "unique" and persistent in both the physical and digital world is needed to support today's omni-channel consumer experiences. Consistency across the physical and digital world is foundational to the future of commerce.
Trade items (and their associated data attributes) remain in digital/online paths to purchase far longer than they remain in physical-store supply chains. For example, in consumer-to-consumer marketplaces it can be decades. Because of this, stopping GTIN reuse is critical in an omni-channel world. For more information refer to Section 4.17.1 of the GS1 General Specifications - https://www.gs1.org/standards/barcodes-epcrfid-id-keys/gs1-general-specifications
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