A commodity barcode serves as an “ID card” for goods, a “pass” for commodity circulation, and an important tool for product quality traceability and digital regulation. Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the newly revised **Measures for the Administration of Commodity Barcodes**, which will take effect on May 1. “This revision is mainly to meet the needs of building a unified national market and provide stronger infrastructure support for commodity circulation. The revised measures focus on regulating the whole-life-cycle management of commodity barcodes,” said Guo Chenguang, Deputy Director General of the Department of Standards Innovation at the State Administration for Market Regulation. “Simply put, a commodity barcode is a ‘digital product identifier’ for goods,” introduced Luo Fangping, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China Article Numbering Center Co., Ltd. After 40 years of development, China now ranks first in the world in the number of members of its commodity barcode system. At present, the total number of enterprises applying for and using commodity barcodes in China has exceeded 650,000, and the total number of products using commodity barcodes has surpassed 240 million, covering key industries such as industrial products, food, and healthcare. “After the implementation of the measures, they will play a positive role in easing the burden on enterprises, empowering industrial development, and ensuring the orderly operation of the market,” introduced Xu Yiwen, Deputy Director General of the Department of Laws and Regulations at the State Administration for Market Regulation. The revision will significantly reduce the burden on enterprises and continuously improve the business environment. Focusing on the pain points and difficulties encountered by enterprises, it further streamlines administrative procedures and cuts approval links. It explicitly cancels the qualification certification for commodity barcode printing enterprises, exempts sellers from the obligation of inspecting commodity barcode certification documents upon purchase, and regulates fee standards related to commodity barcodes, effectively easing restrictions and reducing burdens for enterprises. It will support high-quality development and drive industrial transformation and upgrading. Leveraging the role of commodity barcodes as product “ID cards”, the measures integrate information on commodity production and circulation, administrative licensing, certification and accreditation, inspection and testing, improve the commodity quality and safety traceability system, and enable full-life-cycle tracking of goods. At the same time, they accelerate the digital aggregation of commodity information, injecting impetus into high-quality industrial development while better protecting consumers’ right to information and right to choose. The revision will improve the standard system and strengthen practical application support. It further expands the coverage of national standards for commodity barcodes, adds requirements for *Coding and Bar Code Symbology for Bulk and Staple Commodities*, and improves the system of commodity barcode standards. This addresses the previous gap in incomplete standard coverage, making the application of commodity barcodes more standardized and operable across all types of goods and links. How can commodity barcodes fulfill their roles in traceability, verification and data support to better protect public safety and ensure the implementation of the trade-in policy? According to Guo Chenguang, last year the State Administration for Market Regulation launched a pilot program of coding and verification for the quality and safety of key products sold online. For 10 categories of products closely related to public safety, such as power banks and electric bicycles, it promoted the “one-code traceability” system and established a full-chain supervision system featuring “coding at the production source, code verification and display on platforms, and code recognition and use by consumers”. First, starting from the production source, enterprises are required to “register” their products by assigning codes at the source and truthfully record authentic product information. Second, in the circulation process, 10 major e-commerce platforms are encouraged to conduct “platform code verification and dynamic code display”, strictly checking whether products sold on the platforms have valid codes and whether the information is accurate. Finally, and most importantly, consumers only need to scan the code with their mobile phones to clearly view the actual product details, manufacturer, applicable standards, and even inspection reports. Such “penetrating” supervision can accurately identify problematic products, dynamically track risks, and effectively curb irregularities such as misrepresentation and counterfeiting of products like power banks. In the trade-in process, commodity barcodes serve as a key technical means to ensure the accurate distribution of government subsidies. They can effectively prevent loopholes such as subsidy fraud and arbitrage, ensuring that favorable policies truly benefit consumers. Source: GMWN.cn — People’s Daily