GS1 Japan is working to disseminate the GS1 Standards in close cooperation with user industries, organizations and other parties in order to improve efficiency of supply chain.

Japanese supply and demand chain is characterized by a large number of small and medium sized players in all three tiers of business; manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer. GS1 System users vary from global companies seeking very advanced or innovative applications to tiny manufactures who are generally satisfied with simple solutions.

We see our standard is used in new areas of application. The use of Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) has been increasing on the Internet. For example, the GTIN has been introduced for the management of orders and delivery of products on Internet shopping sites and for the identification of digital contents.

Growing interest in food safety and quality is requiring more advanced management of products and we conducted pilots at retailers on the management of sell-by-date or hour, discount information using GS1 DataBar. Study for use of the symbol in the future will be continued.

As for the EPCglobal, with standards required for the network systems have all been presented, EPCglobal Japan is now working to drive implementation. Supported by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), in 2008 we conducted pilots in the apparel industry and returnable assets for logistics between Japan, South Korea and China to present a business case.

The year 2009 marks an important milestone in our effort to reach broader users and work with them even more closely.

Fistly GS1 Healthcare Japan was founded in May 2009. This council aims at achieving patient safety, increasing healthcare supply chain efficiency, and building traceability systems in Japan by promoting standardization in the industry using the GS1 Systems in cooperation with trade organizations, government agencies and other stakeholders.

Secondly, we coordinated to establish a council called Supply Chain Standards Management and Promotion Council for the maintenance and diffusion of the new EDI standard created in 2007, “Ryutsu Business Message Standard (Ryutsu BMS)”.The council is composed of 45 industry groups including manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers of groceries, daily goods, perishables, drugs, apparel and household electric appliances. We believe that the council will be an important organization for implementing and improving the GS1 Standards.

GS1 Japan is committed to such activities to help our domestic users in answer to the growing expectations for the GS1 Standards. We will also closely cooperate with other GS1 Member Organizations the GS1 Global Office and and related businesses.