The Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran will replace the numerical standard codes printed on products with QR codes to provide customers with an easier way to access product information.
Currently, customers who want assurance of the authenticity of products and their compliance with local standards need to send a numerical code printed on the goods to a local text line service (10001517). Shortly after, the user gets a text message containing information like the producer’s name, where its factory is based, what standard certificates the product meets, the company’s licenses and the item’s expiry date, news website Peivast reported.
Head of ISIRI information technology office, Mostafa Ramandi, says that as part of the policy to facilitate people’s access to accurate information, old codes will be replaced with QR codes on all products that have passed standard qualification tests of the institute.
Quick Response Code or QR code, is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode first designed in 1994 in Japan. The code consists of black squares arranged in a square grid on a white background, which can be read by imaging devices such as mobile phone cameras.
By installing free QR code apps, users will be able to scan the product codes via their smartphones and receive information they seek.
Furthermore, according to Ramandi, by scanning users will also be able to see a short video of the production process of the goods.
QR codes are being used around the world and China is one big example. The square-shaped codes are everywhere in the world’s second largest economy and are actively used by major retailers and street markets.
Analysts say in the near future QR codes will be used on official documents such as birth certificates, visas, and ID cards.
