Business updates

GS1(MAURITIUS) LTD and SME Mauritius Ltd signed an MoU on 27th of March 2018 to support MSMEs by providing financial assistance to acquire GS1 Barcodes.

By acquiring GS1 Barcodes under this scheme, MSMEs will not only upgrade their products and gain easier access to markets, but they will reap numerous benefits. 

With GS1 Barcodes, MSMEs will gain efficiency whilst enjoying lower costs through inventory management.  Since they are internationally recognised standards, GS1 barcodes also enable exporting without any modifications in the barcodes.  GS1 Barcodes and standards not only enable implementing product traceability solutions, but their uniqueness further enable the detection of counterfeited products.  These contribute tremendously to gaining consumer confidence.

By adopting GS1 Barcodes and standards, MSMEs will further gain international visibility through GS1 GEPIR and GS1 Cloud. GS1 GEPIR (Global Electronic Party Information Registry) is a unique, internet-based service that gives anyone access to basic contact information for companies that are members of GS1 whilst GS1 Cloud is the largest source of trusted product information in the world.

Recognising the need to enable MSMEs to acquire GS1 Barcodes; under this scheme, SME Mauritius Ltd will finance 100% of the Registration fees and Training Fees for eligible MSMEs. 

With the signature of this MoU, both organisations are confident that MSMEs will largely benefit since the collaboration goes beyond acquiring GS1 Barcodes to access markets easier.  GS1(MAURITIUS) LTD is also committed to provide training to ensure that the MSMEs implement their barcodes correctly to avoid any possible retailer rejection of their products.  Furthermore, the collaboration includes access to technical support, a database to manage their barcodes and free technical documents.  MSMEs will also get a Membership Certificate, the proof that they are the unique authorised licensee of the GS1 Barcodes.

Access to Market – Barcode Registration Scheme

The Scheme aims at providing financial assistance to SMEs with a view to upgrade their products with respect to the needs of the market and especially to the requirements of wholesalers and retailers. Under this scheme, SMEs are encouraged and motivated to use barcodes for their products; to popularize the Bar Code registration and motivate the SMEs to adopt the Bar Code Certification.

Benefits:

100% payment on registration and training fees (Rs 6,750 inclusive of VAT) paid by SMEs for developing and using Bar Code.

The scheme will cover only GS1 barcodes; unique, globally recognised and to be registered in the GS1 Global Registry. The barcode is being supplied by GS1(MAURITIUS) LTD, collaboration with the MCCI. 

Eligibility Criteria

For more information about the eligibility, please visit http://smemu.org/.  

Seated from right to left: Hon. Soomilduth Bholah, Minister of Business, Enterprise & Cooperatives, Mr. Raj Puddoo, CEO of SME Mauritius, and Mr. Cédric Lagesse, Chairperson of GS1 (MAURITIUS) LTD.