WASHINGTON — The Joint Industry Coupon Committee (JICC) has announced the release of specifications for a new coupon system that will incorporate the GS1 DataBar, an expanded bar code. The JICC represents the Grocery Manufacturers Association here and the Food Marketing Institute, Arlington, Va. The new guidelines, published in “North American Coupon Application Guidelines Using GS1 DataBar (RSS) Expanded Symbols,” are the result of a five-year coupon reengineering project by the JICC and GS1 US, Lawrenceville, N.J. "The current bar-coded coupon has served the industry well over the past 20-plus years, but is not able to adequately serve the needs of today's demands across the industry,” said JICC Co-Chair Alan Williams, vice president, applications development, Ahold Information Services, Ahold USA, Quincy, Mass. “The GS1 DataBar coupon implementation will provide consumers, manufacturers and retailers expanded, accurate and efficient offer capability in printed form on a broader range of products.” The implementation of the new system will be spread out over two years with manufacturers taking the first step of printing the new data bar alongside the original UPC-A bar code on their coupons.

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