What is the range of a passive UHF RFID tag?

GS1 says UHF passive tags can be read at distances well in excess of 10 metres, without line of sight. Real range depends on the tag, reader power and what the tag is attached to.

What frequency does RFID use in Europe and the US?

For UHF, 865–868 MHz (and 915–921 MHz) in the EU under ETSI EN 302 208, and 902–928 MHz in the US under FCC rules. Tags built to GS1's Gen2 work across 860–930 MHz.

What is the difference between RFID and a barcode?

A barcode needs line of sight and is read one at a time; an RFID tag is read by radio, can be read through packaging and many at once. Both can carry the same GS1 key, such as an SSCC.

Term

RFID (radio-frequency identification)

RFID, radio-frequency identification, reads data from a tag by radio instead of a scanner's line of sight. In logistics the common type is the passive UHF tag, also called RAIN RFID, which GS1 says can be read at distances well over 10 metres without line of sight. A tag can carry the same SSCC or GTIN a barcode does.

Also called radio-frequency identification, RAIN RFID, UHF RFID, EPC RFID, RFID tag, RFID logisticsUpdated 13 October 2026

Two kinds

GS1's standards focus on passive UHF and HF tags. UHF tags follow GS1's Gen2 air interface — release 3.0.1, February 2026 — a reader-talks-first system in the 860–930 MHz range, also published as ISO/IEC 18000-63. HF tags work at 13.56 MHz, at much shorter range. Passive tags have no battery: they reflect the reader's signal back with their data.

The bands, by region

Region	Band (MHz)	Power
United States	902–928	1 W conducted with 50+ hopping channels (47 CFR 15.247); 4 W EIRP
European Union	865–868, and 915–921	2 W e.r.p., and 4 W e.r.p. (ETSI EN 302 208)
India	865–867	4 W ERP
Saudi Arabia and UAE	865.6–867.6	2 W ERP, ETSI-based

GS1's overview of UHF regulations, 29 September 2025 (unofficial), with the US and EU rules

The US limit assumes antennas with a directional gain of no more than 6 dBi. GS1 calls its regional overview unofficial, so check the national rule before buying readers for a new site.

Worked example: an SSCC as an EPC

Barcode (00)095265678901234568 → EPC URI urn:epc:id:sscc:952656789012.03456 → written to the tag as SSCC-96, header hex 31 (an item's SGTIN-96 starts 30)

From GS1's EPC Tag Data Standard, release 2.3, October 2025. The check digit is dropped: the tag's own error checking replaces it.

The mistake people make

Treating a GTIN tag as a unique ID. GS1's tag data standard distinguishes keys that identify categories of object, like the GTIN, from keys that identify unique objects, like the SSCC; for item-level RFID the GTIN needs a serial number added — the SGTIN — or every can of the same product reads as the same tag.

FAQ