Algeria continues its march towards the digital transformation of services. All sectors are concerned, including the trade sector. From now on, companies will have to acquire barcode technology to market products inside and outside the country.
The trade sector in Algeria will undergo major reforms in the coming months. One of them is the compulsory affixing of the barcode on all products produced locally, imported, or intended for export.
Minister of Trade and Export Promotion Kamel Rezig (pictured) announced this on Saturday, December 3 during the Barcode Information Day, held at the National Foreign Trade Promotion Agency in Alger.
Highlighting the importance of this new reform, Minister Kamel Rezig said that the role of the barcode is to “facilitate the process of exporting products, avoiding falsification”. This reform follows the interministerial decree (Trade and Industry) of February 16, 2021, on the technical regulations setting the conditions and procedures applicable to the affixing of the barcode on products intended for human consumption.
Indeed, it was in August 2020 that the Minister announced the forthcoming development of a regulatory text relating to the “packer barcode”. He said that during the next 5 years, “all Algerian products produced locally, packaged, and intended for human consumption will be codified once the operation is compulsory”.
To date, 11,410 companies operating on the national market have obtained the barcode, at their request, which is thus affixed to more than 500,000 products intended for human consumption. The other companies are called upon to update themselves because “once the deadline has passed, products that do not have a barcode will be considered illegal and prohibited from marketing,” said the minister.
Note that the barcode, which is numeric or alphanumeric data in bars and spaces, plays several roles. In general, it makes it possible to identify an article in order to know its origin, its location, and the quantity available. It also makes it possible to ensure the computerized management of the stock to have better management of stocks and supplies. It also ensures better traceability from producer to consumer.
