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In June 2006, GS1 announced a global sunrise date of January 1, 2010 for GS1 DataBar (formerly RSS) to become the global open standard for trade item identification at the point-of-sale level. This announcement followed an intensive business case review by a global task force comprised of various stakeholders from eight countries, including Japan. In task force discussions, a member from GS1 Japan stressed that the proposed sunrise date of 2010 was too early for Japan because it would require considerable time for retailers to make POS hardware capable of GS1 DataBar (see Fig. 1.4.1-1).
Fig.1.4.1-1 GS1 DataBar Capable Scanners in Japan & USA
At the GS1 board meeting in May 2006 GS1 Japan's board member supported the proposal but again pointed out that an adoption date of 2010 was too early for many Japanese retailers and this remark was recorded in the minutes of the meeting.
While voicing such an appeal to the global community, GS1 Japan has been making continued efforts to maximize awareness of the GS1 DataBar sunrise in Japanese industry.
Although the readiness has not been changing very quickly, awareness is in fact improving. In Japan, the GS1 DataBar is receiving more attention for its capability to encode additional product data rather than the smallness. Some retailers are currently using GS1-128 barcodes with additional data such as sell by date together with GTIN for in-store products. GS1 Japan plans to launch a study group including retailers and suppliers who are interested in using the new barcode to help encourage its implementation.
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