GS1, the global not-profit organisation, that designs and implements barcode standards, has announced a global adoption date of 1 January 2010 for a new bar code with Reduced Space Symbology (RSS), which can store more data in half the amount of space and offers a temporary alternative to radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology.

Universal product codes — UPCs — are the 12-digit numbers that appear under the barcodes on many U.S. products. They are given out by GS1 US, a nonprofit group that sets standards for international commerce.

Here’s how it works: Businesses pay to join GS1 US, and in exchange, it assigns each member its own identification number that appears as the first part of its UPC.