On June 15 - Global Day of the Mobile Trade, BCCI and GS1-Bulgaria organize an Opened Doors Day

The General Meeting of the International Association GS1, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was opened by Mr. TanSri Young - Chairman of the Board of GS1 Malaysia, and Mr. Miguel Lopera - President of the Chamber of Commerce of Malaysia. The participants in the meeting were welcomed by the GS1 President Mr. Miguel Lopera. Presentations and discussions on the main directions of the GS1 activity had already been made.

In the Health Care sector, presentations were delivered by Maria Palazolo from GS1 Australia, Gary Lynch - Great Britain, and Bernardo Alba from Columbia. By Gary Lynch’s report, investigations in this sector show that 10 000 patients in the United Kingdom have been under threat of suffering injuries because of medical mistakes. The hospitals in England have found 10 % mistakes on the average. At the same time, more than 850 000 GBP are annually spent for the patients’ safety, in order to guarantee the 5 rules in medical service, namely:

• The right patient;
• The right medication;
• The right dose;
• Delivered in the right way;
• In the right time.

The GS1 standards are widely applied in identifying patients, medicines and medical products. Thanks to the implementation of these standards, around 2 billion GBP are annually economized by avoiding unnecessary additional stay in the hospitals.

Presentation in the logistics field was delivered by Bo Ratama from GS1 Swtzerland. He emphasized the possibilities for applying logistic labels to identify loads and RFID for identification of wagons.

With regard to initiatives in the main sectors, presented were also:

Regarding food safety, commented were GS1 track-out standards with presentation by Dayane Taylard from GS1 Global Office and the system of withdrawing goods from the market in Canada, with comments by John Keogh. Special interest evoked the decision with RFID (radio-frequency identification) application to combat fake commodities in China, as well as the automatic system for trace-through of train compositions and wagons. Reportedly, Wuliangye which is one of the 4 biggest producers of beverages use more than 5 million RFID labels annually.

In the course of the continuing General Meeting of GS1, 15 June was proclaimed Global Day of the Mobile Trade. On this day, the BCCI and GS1-Bulgaria will join in with an initiative by organizing an Opened Doors Day of GS1 Bulgaria on the possibilities of the mobile trade with more presentations and free consultations.

Expect more information on the work and decisions of the General Meeting of the GS1 International Association.

Additional information:

• GS1 is a leading international organization which develops and implements global standards and decisions to enhance the effectiveness and transparency along the supply-and-demand chains in various sectors around the world. The standards of the GS1 system are the most widely used for the supply chain worldwide.
• BCCI is a GS1 member since end of 1991. The functions of a national organization are fulfilled by the GS1 Bulgaria Council at the BCCI. At the general meeting the BCCI is represented by the President of the Chamber Mr. Tsvetan Simeonov and Mr. Hristo Sodev – Executive Secretary.
• The GS1 barcodes are definitely the most famous and universally recognizable element of the system of GS1 standards. Even since the barcodes’ invention more than 30 years ago, GS1 has been creating and maintaining barcode marking standards which permit the business and the various organizations around the world automatically and uniquely to identify products, pallets and locations.
• The GS1 standards connect the companies, representatives of all participants along the supply chain – producers, distributors, retailers, hospitals, transporters, customs organizations, software companies, local and international regulatory bodies and many others.
• The GS1 standards are used both by big multinational companies and small local shops, producers of world-famous trademarks, as well as ordinary craftsmen.
• The purpose of applying GS1 standards in the health sector is to guarantee the patients’ safety and reduce to a minimum the doctors’ mistakes. The leading element in the health sector will be provision of traceability. Furthermore, a universal approach will be sought instead of various national identification systems.