Sunrise 2027: do you have to put a QR code on your product?

Search for "barcodes 2027" and you will find headlines saying the barcode will be replaced by a QR code from 2027. If you own a brand with two hundred printed SKUs, that sounds like a reprint of every pack, every cylinder and every carton.

Please do not order new artwork yet.

Sunrise 2027 is not a law. It is a goal agreed by retailers and manufacturers through GS1, the barcode standards organisation. It asks retailers to make their checkout scanners read 2D barcodes, such as a QR code, by the end of 2027.

Your EAN-13 stays valid. Nobody can fine you under Sunrise 2027, and in India I found no government regulation that ties a 2D barcode to that date.

Checked against official sources on 28 October 2026.

What is Sunrise 2027, in plain words?

GS1 sets out the plan in its 2D Barcodes at Retail Point-of-Sale Implementation Guideline (Release 1.1.0, ratified December 2025). The first goal is that retail checkout scanning everywhere can read the GTIN from existing linear barcodes and from 2D barcodes by the end of 2027.

GS1 US calls this Sunrise 2027. Other GS1 offices speak of Ambition 2027. It is the same goal.

I read the guideline end to end, and three points stood out, because the headlines leave them out.

1. The target is the scanner. The guideline is about what a checkout can read, and nothing in it forces a change to your pack.
2. The first step covers only the GTIN, the product number. Reading batch numbers or expiry dates from a 2D code at checkout comes later.
3. The guideline describes it as a voluntary transition away from linear barcodes, done in stages.

I think of the early days of UPI. The shopkeeper had to put up a QR stand before any customer could pay by phone. Cash did not stop working the day the stand went up.

Sunrise 2027 is the QR stand moment for barcodes. The checkout must learn the new code first, and the old one keeps working.

Is the EAN-13 going away?

No. GS1 US says it plainly on its 2D barcodes page. The UPC barcode is not going away, and shoppers may see a 2D code and a UPC side by side during the transition.

The GS1 guideline goes further. A 2D code cannot be the only barcode on a pack until 2D scanning is available almost everywhere. It puts that line at 90% of checkout scanning systems being able to use GS1 2D codes. Until then, a pack that carries a 2D code also carries its linear barcode.

So the question for 2027 is not "EAN-13 or QR". It is "EAN-13 alone, or EAN-13 plus a 2D code".

Who has to act before the end of 2027?

Mostly the retailers. A brand owner is not forced to do anything by a particular date.

The retailer's homework is new scanners, upgraded software and staff training.

The brand owner's homework, if any, is artwork.

What GS1 offices in other countries say

If you export retail packs, the GS1 office in your buyer's country matters as much as GS1 India. We looked at four of them.

1. GS1 Australia's page Are you ready for 2027 calls it an industry goal to use next generation barcodes at checkout "in addition to existing barcodes" by the end of 2027.
2. GS1 New Zealand says in its next generation barcode FAQ that it is aiming for every retail checkout in New Zealand to scan GS1 QR codes by the end of 2027. It names retailer scanner readiness as the first job.
3. GS1 US says the UPC stays and the industry plans to support Sunrise 2027.
4. GS1 India, in a June 2025 article, calls the end of 2027 the industry date for 2D at the point of sale. It expects QR codes at retail checkouts and GS1 DataMatrix in healthcare. It does not describe it as a legal requirement in India.

None of them tells a brand owner to remove the linear barcode.

So should an Indian brand add a QR code in 2027?

My view is that the answer depends on where your packs are sold. The year matters less.

In our group we print labels for brands, so we see their artwork before it goes to press. We would sort most brands into four groups.

1. You export retail packs to supermarket chains abroad. Ask each buyer, in writing, whether its supplier manual asks for a GS1 2D barcode and from what date. A buyer's manual binds you even when GS1's goal does not.
2. You already print a QR code for marketing, such as a recipe page or a warranty registration form. Convert it to GS1 Digital Link at your next artwork change. Then the same code carries your GTIN to the checkout and your web page to the shopper.
3. You want batch or expiry data readable by machines later. A 2D code can carry it, and GS1 plans that as the next stage. Start with the GTIN and add the rest when your buyers can use it.
4. You sell mainly through Indian distributors and retail where no buyer has asked. There is no hurry. Spend the effort on getting your EAN-13 right first, and our lesson on GS1 barcodes in India covers that.

One code doing two jobs takes less space than two codes.

I would choose that over a second QR code every time.

Mistakes we would avoid

1. Printing a plain website QR code and calling the pack "Sunrise 2027 ready". The checkout cannot find a product number in it.
2. Removing the EAN-13 to make room for the QR code. GS1 says not yet.
3. Putting the 2D code on a different panel, far from the EAN-13. GS1 asks for it within 50 mm (1.97 inches) of the centre of the linear barcode, so the checkout reads the product once and moves on.
4. Pointing the code at a page that will be taken down, such as a campaign page. GS1 asks brands to set up the full address before printing, so a scan never lands on a dead page.
5. Making the code in a free online generator that hides your address inside its own short link. If that service closes, every pack you printed loses its link.

A pack can sit on a shelf or in a pantry for a year. The code on it must still lead somewhere useful on the last day.

I will be honest about one limit of this lesson. Nobody can tell you today how many Indian billing counters will read 2D codes by December 2027. I looked for a count for India and did not find one.

What to do now, before the end of 2027

1. Make one sheet with every SKU, its GTIN, and whether the pack already carries a QR code of any kind.
2. Send each export buyer one written question: "Does your supplier manual require a GS1 2D barcode on our packs, and from what date?" File the replies.
3. Choose the web domain you will use for GS1 Digital Link. GS1's guideline notes that a shorter domain gives a smaller code.
4. At the next planned artwork change, add the 2D code on the same panel as the EAN-13 and within 50 mm of its centre. Keep the EAN-13 exactly as it is.
5. Ask your printer for a verification report on the first print run, as well as a phone scan. Our lesson on adding a GS1 QR code next to your barcode gives the sizes, quiet zones and grades.
6. Check your buyers' manuals again in mid-2027. Retailer rules can change faster than GS1 guidelines.

If you sell plastic-packed goods in India, keep one more code separate in your mind. The QR code that the plastic EPR rules allow for your registration details is a different matter, and it is optional too. I explain it in Is a QR code for EPR details mandatory?

Labels are made by Jagannath Labels, our group's label company. We print the code you own.

The GTIN comes from GS1 India. The decision to add a 2D code is yours, or your buyer's.

If a buyer has sent you a labelling manual and you are not sure what it asks for, send it to us through the contact page. We will tell you what we read in it, and whether your current EAN-13 still does the job.