It is becoming more and more common to hear car guys complain about Chinese replacement parts for their cars. It has also become common for grocery shoppers to avoid foods from certain countries. Are wonderful Government recently passed legislation removing country identification from food and I wonder is car parts will be far behind. What are we supposed to do in our search for the correct part that will fit and last and be make in America?
If you share my desire to purchase items made and grown in the USA I have a solution for you. In school we called it a cheat sheet, at least that is what I was told. I would never have thought of such a thing back in the day.
I suggest that you write down the following information on a credit card size piece of paper and keep in your billfold. If we don’t write it down for future reference you will likely not remember it. I know my aging brain and memory certainly can’t. If you don’t know how to differentiate which products come from Canada, Philippines, Taiwan or China or the USA this will be your cheat sheet.
The first three digits of the barcode is the country code wherein the product was made or grown. Government and related departments have not seen fit to educate the public. Therefore, we have to educate ourselves. Chinese businessmen know that consumers do not prefer products ‘Made in China’, so they don’t show from which country it is made. However, you may now refer to the barcode on all products and foods.
The first three numbers in the Barcode designate the country of origin. The two you will likely most want to remember: 690-695 is Made in China and 00 ~ 13 is for USA & Canada.
Here is a more complete list:
Barcodes
30 ~ 37: France
40 ~ 44: Germany
49: Japan
50: UK
57: Denmark
64: Finland
76: Switzerland and Liechtenstein
471: Taiwan
480: Philippines
628: Saudi-Arabia
629: United Arab Emirates
690 ~ 695 China
740 ~ 745: Central America
