The two-digit add-on barcode is used to add extra information about the publication such as its edition number. For monthly magazines this is usually the month number within the year, and for newspapers it provides a week number in the year.
This extra information is not intended to be scanned at the Retail Point-of-Sale, and it is normally scanned when magazines and newspapers are returned to the distributors. This means accurate credits can be made to the retailers who have returned these publications.
Many publications are identified using ISSNs (International Standard Serial Numbers) encoded in an EAN-13 symbol.
Further information about how the ISSN System works and your local ISSN national body can be found on the ISSN website.
The two-digit add-on barcode should be printed on the right side of the EAN-13 or
UPC-A barcode. It is never scanned separately, and the data of both symbols
should be processed together.
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