ISO/IEC 15459-4:2014

FINAL
INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
DRAFT
STANDARD FDIS
15459-4
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 31
Information technology — Automatic
Secretariat: ANSI
identification and data capture
Voting begins on:
2014-06-03 techniques — Unique identification —
Voting terminates on:
Part 4:
2014-08-03
Individual products and product
packages
Technologies de l’information — Identification automatique et
techniques de capture de données — Identification unique —
Partie 4: Articles individuels et paquetages d’article
RECIPIENTS OF THIS DRAFT ARE INVITED TO
SUBMIT, WITH THEIR COMMENTS, NOTIFICATION
OF ANY RELEVANT PATENT RIGHTS OF WHICH
THEY ARE AWARE AND TO PROVIDE SUPPOR TING
DOCUMENTATION.
IN ADDITION TO THEIR EVALUATION AS
Reference number
BEING ACCEPTABLE FOR INDUSTRIAL, TECHNO-
ISO/IEC FDIS 15459-4:2014(E)
LOGICAL, COMMERCIAL AND USER PURPOSES,
DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS MAY ON
OCCASION HAVE TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE
LIGHT OF THEIR POTENTIAL TO BECOME STAN-
DARDS TO WHICH REFERENCE MAY BE MADE IN
©
NATIONAL REGULATIONS. ISO/IEC 2014

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ISO/IEC FDIS 15459-4:2014(E)

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT
© ISO/IEC 2014
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form
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ISO/IEC FDIS 15459-4:2014(E)

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Identities for individual products and product packages . 1
4.1 Qualifiers for individual products and product packages. 2
5 Identity for individual products and product packages . 3
5.1 General . 3
5.2 Maximum number of characters permissible in an identity . 3
5.3 Permissible character sets in an identity . 3
6 Implementation of coding using AIDC media . 3
Annex A (normative) What is a product and/or product package? . 4
Annex B (informative) Unique identification for product and product package management .5
Bibliography . 9
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ISO/IEC FDIS 15459-4:2014(E)

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are
members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical
committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical
activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the
work. In the field of information technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee,
ISO/IEC JTC 1.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for
the different types of document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject
of patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction
and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation on the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity
assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the WTO principles in the Technical Barriers
to Trade (TBT) see the following URL: Foreword - Supplementary information
The committee responsible for this document is ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology, Subcommittee
SC 31, Automatic identification and data capture techniques.
This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition (ISO/IEC 15459-4:2008), which has been
technically revised.
ISO/IEC 15459 consists of the following parts (as a result of the reconstruction of previously published
parts 1 to 8), under the general title Information technology —Automatic identification and data capture
techniques— Unique identification:
— Part 1: Individual transport units
— Part 2: Registration procedures
— Part 3: Common rules
— Part 4: Individual products and product packages
— Part 5: Individual returnable transport items (RTIs)
— Part 6: Groupings
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ISO/IEC FDIS 15459-4:2014(E)

Introduction
Unique identities can occur at many different levels, at item level, on the transport unit, on the returnable
transport item, at grouping levels, and elsewhere. Such entities are often handled by several parties,
both public and private, throughout their lifecycle. Each of these parties must be able to identify and
trace such distinct entities so that reference can be made to associated information such as quality
inspection data, the chemical substance contained, the batch or lot number of parts, components or raw
materials, etc.
The associated information is typically held in some kind of database. The information can be accessed
using EDI exchange or another appropriate access protocol, e.g. a directory access protocol.
There are considerable benefits if the identity of the entity is represented as a bar code or other AIDC
(Automatic Identification and Data Capture) media and attached to or made a constituent part of that
which is being uniquely identified so that
— it can be read electronically, thus minimizing errors;
— one identity can be used by all parties;
— each party can use the identity to look up its computer files to find the data associated with the
entity.
All AIDC technologies have the potential to encode an identity. It is expected that application standards,
using various automatic identification technologies, will be developed based upon the identity as a prime
key. These application standards, which can include additional rules for which level of identification
should be used, are often made available from the Issuing Agency.
The identity for products and product packages defined in this part of ISO/IEC 15459, and represented
in AIDC media attached to the product or product package, meets the needs defined in ISO/IEC 15459-3,
Common Rules.
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FINAL DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC FDIS 15459-4:2014(E)
Information technology — Automatic identification and
data capture techniques — Unique identification —
Part 4:
Individual products and product packages
1 Scope
This part of ISO/IEC 15459 specifies a unique string of characters for the identification of individual
products and product packages. The character string is intended to be represented in a linear bar code
symbol or two-dimensional symbol or other AIDC media attached to the entity to meet management
needs. To address management needs different classes of identities are recognized in the various parts
of ISO/IEC 15459, which allows different requirements to be met by the identities associated with each
class.
The rules for the identification of an individual occurrence of a product or product package, understood
to mean the layers zero and one defined in the International Standards ISO 17367 and ISO 17366,
respectively, are defined and supported by examples.
2 Normative references
The following documents, in whole or in part, are normatively referenced in this document and are
indispensable for its application. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated
references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO/IEC 646, Information technology — ISO 7-bit coded character set for information interchange
ISO 3779, Road vehicles — Vehicle identification number (VIN) — Content and structure
ISO/IEC 15459-2, Information technology — Automatic identification and data capture techniques —
Unique identification — Part 2: Registration procedures
ISO/IEC 15459-3, Information technology — Automatic identification and data capture techniques —
Unique identification — Part 3: Common rules
ISO/IEC 19762-1, Information technology — Automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) techniques —
Harmonized vocabulary — Part 1: General terms relating to AIDC
ANS MH.10.8.2, Data Identifier and Application Identifier Standard
GS1 General Specifications
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 19762-1 and ISO/IEC 15459-
3 apply.
4 Identities for individual products and product packages
Each individual product or product package (See Annex A) shall be unambiguously identified by a
qualifier and a string as defined in Clause 5 so that individual products or product packages of a given
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ISO/IEC FDIS 15459-4:2014(E)

type can be distinguished from other types. The permitted combinations of qualifier and string are
determined by the Issuing Agency.
If there is only one individual product in a product package, or one individual product is seen as dominant
in the product package, the product package may use the identity as the included sole or dominant
individual product (see Clause 4.1). In other cases a product package shall have its own identity, making
it possible to differentiate the product package from the included individual products.
Notwithstanding the above, where regulatory requirements or industry practice dictate it may be
necessary to assign an identity to the only or all the individual products in a package.
4.1 Qualifiers for individual products and product packages
The qualifier component of an identity for a product or product package may use any data format
supported by ISO/IEC 15434 or ISO/IEC 9834-1. What formats may be used are to be specified by the
Issuing Agency rules. For the purpose of this standard examples are not meant to be exhaustive, but
rather representative of the full suite of data qualifiers possible to use and relevant to this standard;
4.1.1 Identity using a serial component
— GS1 Application Identifiers 8004
If this method is used to create the identity each unique identity issuer would select the appropriate
GS1 Application Identifier, conforming to the requirements of the GS1 General Specification, to act
as the qualifier of the identity.
— ASC MH 10 Data Identifiers 25S or 3I
If this method is used to create the identity each unique identity issuer would select the appropriate
ASC MH10 Data Identifier as required by the appropriate Issuing Agency to act as the qualifier of
the identity.
NOTE The structure of an identity following “3I” is defined in ISO 3779, Road vehicles — Vehicle
identification number (VIN) — Content an
...