GS1 unlocks traceability with global standards in SwePass

GS1 is a global and neutral standards organisation, known for its work with barcodes and digital identification. In SwePass, GS1 Sweden contributes its expertise in standards, digital product information and traceability to several areas of the project, including training, policy work and selected demonstrators.

– We see our role in SwePass as supporting efforts in education, policy, and the practical implementation of traceability, says Staffan Olsson, Head of Public Affairs at GS1 Sweden.

Insights from the field

GS1 Sweden brings knowledge from a range of Swedish and international projects – including Trace4Value, the Fiber Traceability Initiative, ProPare, and the EU-funded CIRPASS. These experiences have offered valuable insight into what works, what doesn’t, and what still needs to be explored to make traceability truly scalable.

– We’ve learned a lot about where the key challenges lie – and what needs further exploration to move forward, says Staffan Olsson.

One major opportunity in SwePass is to improve how digital product information is shared across industries. While several standards already exist, many are narrowly tailored to individual sectors.

– There’s a strong need for a shared framework – a set of principles that allows information to be exchanged securely between systems without requiring every industry to change its terminology or data structures, says Staffan Olsson.

This is where semantic interoperability comes in – enabling systems to understand and use each other’s data, even when formats or vocabularies differ. One of the biggest challenges, according to GS1 Sweden, is the current reliance on centralised traceability platforms.

– Most existing implementations assume that all actors upload their traceability data into a single system. But that’s not scalable – it’s like saying all companies must use the same bank to transfer money, or the same internet provider to send emails, says Staffan Olsson.

Instead, GS1 advocates for decentralised models where each actor retains control over their data, sharing it through global standards. This would allow traceability to grow organically, in line with the complexity of real-world value chains.

– We want to provide concrete, practical advice based on our past experience to help companies of all sizes get started with traceability. And we hope the project will generate new knowledge that can feed into future training, policy discussions and real-world applications, concludes Staffan Olsson.

SwePass is not just about testing new technology – it’s about laying the groundwork for traceability systems that can work across borders, industries and generations.