Multiple posts have been circulating on social media asking people to boycott the use of Chinese products, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China.
The posts claim that China-made products can be identified by the first three digits of a barcode. These posts also urge people to identify Chinese products through this method and boycott them.
One of such posts says that “Nowadays, Chinese businessmen know that consumers do not prefer products ‘made in china’, so they don’t show from which country it is made. However, you may now refer to the barcode, remember if the first 3 digits are 690-695 then it is Made in China.” It further states that the barcode for Indian products are 890.

Nowadays, Chinese businessmen know that consumers do not prefer products ‘made in china’, so they don’t show from which country it is made. However, you may now refer to the barcode, remember if the first 3 digits is 690-695 then it is Made in China. pic.twitter.com/GWkCZbooWP

— जागो हिंदुओं! जातियों में बँटोगे तो सारे कटोगे ! (@AKGARG1) April 17, 2020

Mahesh Vikram Hegde@mvmeet
·
14 ம.நே.
How to differentiate between Chinese and Indian Products

Barcode starting with number
690 to 699 is country code of China
Barcode starting with number
890 is country code of India
Let’s Boycott Chinese product
— Love Chowkidar (@vishmahe1) April 9, 2020

How to differentiate between Chinese and Indian Products :

🇨🇳 Barcode starting with numbers
690 to 699 is country code of China
🇮🇳 Barcode starting with numbers
890 is country code of India
Let’s Boycott Chinese Products !!#BoycottChineseProducts
— Rajat Gundi (@RajatGundi) April 9, 2020

Such claims have also been circulating in the United States in favour of American products.

Very simple: Pick up a product. Look at the barcode. If the first 3 numbers are 690 or 691 or 692, the product was made in China. Put it down and buy from any other country. If the numbers are 00 thru 09 to start, it’s USA made. Buy American. 🇺🇸

— Calitom (@calitom3) April 20, 2020

FACT CHECK 

We fact-checked these claims and found them to be false.
While using keywords from these claims, we ran a search and found an article from 2011 showing that such rumours had circulated as early as 2008 in the U.S.
On reading further, we first understood through nationwidebarcodes.com – an agency that provides UPC and EAN barcodes to all-size businesses in the United States, Canada and throughout the world – that the barcodes in question in the posts are called EAN or European Article Number, now known as International Article Number used internationally whereas the UPC is used in the U.S and Canada.

The next step was to understand the components of the EAN barcodes and whether it signified where a product was made.
We went to the FAQ section of GS1 –a not-for-profit organization that develops and maintains global standards for business communication.
In the FAQs, it is clearly stated that the first few digits of the EAN do not show the country of origin. It rather shows the prefix of the GS1 member organization that allocated the barcode number. The GS1 prefix does not indicate that the product was manufactured in a specific country or by a specific manufacturer; it may have been produced anywhere in the world.

Hence, it is clear that any barcode that begins with numbers ranging from 690 to 695 does not mean that the product was made in China.
The posts claiming this are fake.

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