In order to avoid products from China , it is your "right" to know
how the international UPC system works. You can check a product the
next time you are in the supermarket. In general, the first three
numbers are the country code and the numbers 690, 691, and 692
indicate China, 471 is Taiwan and 880 ( South Korea ) or 49 (Japan).
Using the link in blue below, you can check out other country codes.
To learn more click here:
http://www.barcodeisland.com/ean13.phtml