Build product authentication as a chain of linked controls: assign the right identity to each product, bind that identity to the physical item, issue verifiable authenticity data, record custody and handling events, and make partners’ systems exchange and act on those records. A scannable code, signed record, or traceability history can help, but none proves by itself that the physical product is genuine. The system is only as dependable as its identifiers, physical-to-digital binding, data inputs, partner processes, and response to suspicious results.
Decide what the system must authenticate
Start by defining the product families, components, packaging levels, organizations, locations, and handoffs in scope. Then state what a verifier needs to decide: whether a product identifier is valid, whether the item’s history is consistent with expected movement, whether a lot can be traced for a recall, or whether a warranty or service record belongs to that item.
These objectives overlap but are not interchangeable. Traceability records describe a product’s path through a supply chain; they can reveal missing, duplicated, or implausible events. Authentication asks whether the product being examined is the product represented by its identity and evidence. A history can help detect inconsistencies, but it does not alone establish that the physical item was not swapped or that every event was entered truthfully.
Define the threat and verifier
- List the likely risks, such as copied identifiers, substituted items, altered packaging, unauthorized relabeling, or incomplete handoff data.
- Identify who will verify: a manufacturer, distributor, retailer, service provider, regulator, or consumer. Decide what information that party is allowed to see.
- Choose the decisions verification must support, such as accept, investigate, hold, quarantine, or escalate. “Valid” should have a defined operational meaning, not just a successful scan.
- Map the environments and constraints: line speed, packaging and label surfaces, connectivity, partner systems, and the locations where scans will occur.
The right identification level depends on both the traceability objective and the supply chain; GS1’s Global Traceability Standard says these are key criteria for choosing it. Requirements must be tailored to the sector and jurisdiction rather than inferred from a general standard.
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Choose the identity granularity
Decide whether identifiers apply to a product type, a production lot, or each individual item. A product-class key such as a GTIN identifies a product type; adding a lot or batch identifies a production group; adding a serial number makes the identity unique to an instance. The more specific the identity, the more precise the system can be about that particular item, but the greater the marking, data-management, and partner-coordination burden.
| Identity level | What the identifier distinguishes | Useful when | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class | A product type or trade item | Type-level identification is sufficient for the use case | Cannot distinguish one unit from another unit of the same type |
| Lot or batch | A group of products made or handled together | Tracing and investigating at batch level meets the objective | Does not uniquely identify an individual unit within that lot |
| Unique instance | One particular item, commonly using a product identifier plus a serial number | Item-specific provenance or anti-counterfeiting checks are required | Requires unique issuance, reliable application and capture, maintained item-level data, and partner support |
Use the least costly level that adequately addresses the defined risk and tracing objective; the cited standards do not establish a universal cost threshold. GS1’s Digital Signatures standard explains that a unique instance identifier can make a traceability history specific to one product and support unique authentication data.
Bind the physical product to verifiable data
Choose an identifier carrier that can be applied consistently during production and captured at relevant handoffs. Depending on the implementation, this might be a supported barcode, a 2D code, or an EPC/RFID tag. Design the marking and scanning process together: a code that is difficult to print, read, or associate with the right package will undermine otherwise sound data.
- Issue the identifier. Control how identifiers are assigned so that the same unique identity is not unintentionally or improperly issued to multiple items.
- Apply and capture it. Record the identifier against the physical unit at the point where the association can be checked. Where multiple packaging levels are used, capture how item identifiers relate to cases and pallets.
- Attach authenticity evidence. For signed data, the verifier checks the signature against a trusted public key and the identity claimed for the item. Define who is authorized to issue that evidence and how the organization will manage trusted keys and changes to them.
- Add physical protections where justified. Tamper-evident packaging or security marks can complement identifiers and signatures. Their suitability depends on the product and threat model; no single mark is established as a universal counterfeit-prevention measure.
A valid digital signature supports the authenticity and integrity of the signed data. It does not independently prove that the physical object bearing the identifier has not been substituted. GS1’s guidance treats signed data, unique serialization, and transaction history as complementary elements rather than interchangeable ones.
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If staff need to scan serialized identifiers, select capture equipment for the actual workflow. Confirm supported symbologies, interface and software compatibility, throughput, and durability. In the U.S. pharmaceutical example, the relevant carrier includes GS1 DataMatrix; that does not make it the right choice for every product or sector.
Record supply-chain events in a shared structure
Define which events matter and what information each must contain. GS1 EPCIS is designed to share visibility events that describe “the what, when, where, why and how” of products and other assets. Its companion CBV provides common vocabulary for business steps, states, and dispositions. EPCIS 2.0 supports JSON/JSON-LD, REST interfaces, sensor data, certifications, and GS1 Digital Link; those capabilities are useful only when the participating systems agree on how to use them.
Specify the events and relationships
- Capture commissioning, shipping, receiving, transformation, aggregation, disaggregation, and relevant status changes as appropriate to the product flow.
- Define required identifiers, timestamps, locations, business steps or event reasons, and transaction context for each event type.
- Represent packaging relationships explicitly. Aggregation connects child items or cases to a parent case or pallet; disaggregation records when that relationship changes.
- For transformed products, decide whether and how events connect inputs to outputs.
Use EPCIS and CBV to make event data interpretable across different organizations and tools, rather than assuming a partner’s local field names or internal codes mean the same thing. GS1 describes the standards and EPCIS 2.0 capabilities on its EPCIS & CBV page.
Make partner handoffs part of the design
A technically valid event format does not ensure that partners send complete, accurate, or timely records. For each trading partner, agree on identities and locations, transfer endpoints or mechanisms, authorized visibility, operating contacts, test data, and onboarding steps. Include real packaging scenarios and planned failure cases in testing.
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- Map the handoff. Identify the sending and receiving organizations, relevant product and location identifiers, and the event expected at each transition.
- Test representative files and flows. Validate data quality, identifiers, packaging hierarchies, and aggregation relationships, including missing or malformed data.
- Monitor exchanges. Establish how failed, delayed, or incomplete transmissions are detected and who is responsible for resolving them.
- Reconcile physical and digital records. At receipt, compare scanned product identifiers and package relationships with the expected event or transaction data; define a route for product/data mismatches.
GS1 US’s DSCSA guidance uses the U.S. prescription-drug supply chain as a sector-specific example of this work, including partner onboarding, EPCIS test-file exchange, monitoring failed exchanges, and mismatch handling. Its pharmaceutical chain-of-custody implementation guideline is also specific to that context. These materials are not universal compliance instructions; check the applicable regulator and current requirements for the jurisdiction and product involved.
Define verification results and what happens next
Specify what the verification service checks and what evidence it returns. Depending on the design, checks may include whether an identifier is well-formed, whether signed data verifies against a trusted key, whether an identifier is revoked or otherwise invalid, whether it has appeared unexpectedly or repeatedly, and whether recorded events are consistent with the expected handoff. A successful signature check is one result, not a complete judgment about the physical product or its history.
Give each exception an owner and action
- Valid: the defined identity and evidence checks passed; record what was checked so the result is interpretable.
- Suspicious or duplicated: preserve the scan and related event context, then route it to the responsible investigation team.
- Invalid or revoked: follow the product-specific hold, quarantine, or escalation process rather than treating the item as an ordinary successful scan.
- Inconclusive: distinguish missing connectivity or unavailable data from a failed authenticity check, and provide a fallback procedure for the operating site.
Assign responsibility for investigation, audit, recall coordination where relevant, and incident communication before launch. A verifier should know whom to contact and what to do when evidence is missing or conflicts with the item in hand.
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Event histories can reveal trading relationships, inventory levels, and production volumes. Decide which participants need which records, and enforce access rules around that need; broad visibility is not automatically a requirement of traceability.
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A GS1 AISBL draft white paper, version 0.4 dated 1 April 2022, proposes using digitally signed verifiable credentials and sanitized EPCIS data to demonstrate chain connectedness while obscuring some intermediate identities. Treat this as a design proposal, not a settled implementation requirement: evaluate it against the current standards, governance model, and capabilities of the partners who would operate it.
Choose infrastructure after the operating rules
A shared conventional database, federated exchange, or distributed ledger may be considered against the same requirements: who governs it, who controls the data, how access is granted, how partners exchange records, and what performance and operating costs are acceptable. The choice does not remove the need for reliable identifiers, event semantics, partner onboarding, or trustworthy source data.
Blockchain is one possible shared-ledger architecture, not a product-authentication shortcut. GS1’s blockchain overview points to EPCIS and CBV as structures that can support interoperability with blockchain networks. A ledger can preserve records according to its design, but it cannot by itself establish that an item was correctly identified or that the event entered at the source was true.
Use a pilot to test the complete chain
Before broad rollout, run representative products and handoffs through the whole process, from identifier issuance to partner receipt and exception resolution. Test not just an ideal successful scan but the conditions that expose weak links: damaged or unreadable marks, missing events, incorrect aggregation, duplicate or invalid identifiers, unavailable data, and mismatches between the physical package and its record.
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- Does the physical item map to the right product, lot or serial identity and signed evidence?
- Do partners exchange the agreed event and packaging data in both normal and failed paths?
- Can authorized users see the needed evidence without exposing unrelated commercial records?
- Does every exception produce a clear status, an accountable owner, and an operational action?
Expand only after the process works across the participating organizations and packaging levels—not merely in the issuer’s own system.
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