Odd parity, E = Even parity). The first digit in the EAN code: the combination of parities of the digits in the left group indirectly encodes the first digit 4. The complete EAN-13 code is thus: 4 003994 155486. Decoding By using the barcode center marker, it is possible for a barcode scanner to scan just one half of the barcode at a time. This allows reconstruction of the code by means of a helical scan of the barcode by an angle of approximately 45 degrees. Japanese Article Number Japanese Article Number (JAN) is a barcode standard compatible with the EAN. Use of the JAN standard began in 1978. Originally, JAN was issued a flag code (EAN's number system) of 49. In 1992, JAN was newly issued an additional flag code of 45. In January 2001 the manufacturer code changed to 7 digits (9 digits including the flag code) for new companies. See also EAN-8, another form of EAN barcode EAN-5, a supplemental EAN for the suggested list price Electronic Data Interchange European Article Numbering-Uniform Code Council Global Electronic Party Information Register (GEPIR) a searchable distributed database of GS1 GTINs GTIN References External links International Article Number at GS1 website Código de barras website Barcode Perl modules at CPAN An example of EAN8/13 implementation Implementing the EAN-13 barcode in C# Global Electronic Party Information Registry (GEPIR) upcdatabase, another online barcode database EAN-Search, subscription based barcode database with API, over 275 million entries Official JAN homepage Free EAN Database Barcodes Identifiers Unique identifiers GS1 standards