Every day, new products are manufactured and sold across borders and online. Increased trade and more sophisticated designs can make it difficult to ensure that the products consumers buy are safe. In response to this need for better information, the OECD created the GlobalRecalls portal, the first online tool that contains regularly-updated information on consumer product recalls issued by jurisdictions around the world.

Consumers can use this portal to check for safety alerts about the products they intend to buy, especially when making online purchases from abroad. Businesses can improve tracking of emerging hazards from around the world to help them move quickly to address problems. Governments are also better positioned to remove unsafe products from the market, better protecting consumers.

The OECD chose to adopt GS1 standards for product identification (GTIN) and global product classifications (GPC) to support the search features and multi-lingual capability of the GlobalRecalls portal. Using one global standard facilitates seamless data interoperability from jurisdictions into the GlobalRecalls portal and eliminates product ambiguities.

Contact information

Interested in learning more about this project? Contact Mike Mowad, Director, Global Product Classification, GS1 at helpdesk@gs1.org

For more information on GPC go to https://www.gs1.org/gpc

For more information on the OECD GlobalRecals Portal go to: https://globalrecalls.oecd.org/Content.aspx?Context=AboutThePortal_Introduction&lang=En

Contact your local GS1 Member Organisation at www.gs1.org/contact

About GS1

GS1 is a neutral, not-for-profit, global organisation that develops and maintains the most widely used supply chain standards system in the world. GS1 standards improve the efficiency, safety, and visibility of supply chains across multiple sectors. With local Member Organisations in 112 countries, GS1 engages with communities of trading partners, industry organisations, governments, and technology providers to understand and respond to their business needs through the adoption and implementation of global standards. GS1 is driven by over a million user companies, which execute more than six billion transactions daily in 150 countries using GS1 standards. More information at www.gs1.org