Where was this barcode registered?
Scan a product barcode or type its number. See if the number is valid and which country's GS1 office issued it, and why that is not where the product was made.
8, 12 or 13 digits (EAN-8, UPC-A or EAN-13). Spaces are fine.
Everything happens on your phone. The camera picture never leaves it, the number is not sent anywhere, and nothing is saved.
What the first digits really mean
A company that wants barcodes joins its local GS1 office and gets a company number. That number starts with the office's prefix. The company can then make its products anywhere in the world.
GS1, the organisation that runs barcodes, says it plainly: the prefix does not show where a product was made. A brand registered in one country can make its goods in another, and a factory abroad can print a UAE number for a UAE brand.
Numbers starting with 629 were issued by GS1 Emirates, the GS1 office for the UAE. It tells you the brand owner registered here, not that the item was made here.
Look for "Made in", "Product of" or "Country of origin" on the pack. For pre-packed food sold in the UAE, the Arabic (or Arabic and English) label must state the country of origin.
20 to 29 are in-store codes, often on weighed fruit, meat or cheese. 978 and 979 are books (the ISBN), 977 is magazines and journals. These say nothing about a country.
Some prefixes you will often see in the UAE
Sources: GS1, "GS1 Company Prefix" list of prefixes (gs1.org/prefixes), checked 27 October 2026: 629 is GS1 Emirates; 200–299 restricted circulation numbers within a region; 977 serial publications (ISSN); 978–979 Bookland (ISBN); 950 GS1 Global Office; 952 demonstrations; for 12-digit numbers a leading zero is implied; "GS1 Prefixes do not identify the country of origin for a given product". GS1 support article "Does the GS1 Prefix show the country of origin?" (support.gs1.org). Restricted circulation numbers in 8-digit format start with 0 or 2 (GS1 General Specifications). Check digit: the standard GS1 modulo-10 calculation. Country of origin on UAE food labels: U.S. International Trade Administration, UAE Country Commercial Guide, labelling and marking requirements (Arabic or Arabic/English labels, minimum information includes the country of origin), and Al Tamimi & Co. on Dubai Municipality food labelling (GSO 9 labelling standard; "EU" is not accepted as a country of origin). Camera decoding uses the browser's built-in barcode detector, or Quagga2 (MIT licence) hosted on this site.