Code List Recommendations

Recommendation 3 which is known as the “ISO ALPHA 2 Country Code,” it is intended for use in representing the names of countries, dependencies, and other areas of special geopolitical interest for purposes of international trade whenever there is a need for a coded alphabetical designation. This code is maintained by ISO

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Recommendation 5 recommends the use of agreed abbreviations for the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) trade terms, known as INCOTERMS, for acceptance and use by Governments and international organizations whenever these terms are used in abbreviated form, including in electronic data transmission and processing. INCOTERMS were originally proposed by the UNECE in the 1970’s and then were transferred to the ICC.

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Recommendation 7 establishes a method for a standardized and unambiguous all numerical designation of a given: date, time of day and length of time. It applies to all cases when this information is presented in numerical form but not when it is part of a plain language text.

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Recommendation 9 encourages the use of the three-letter alphabetic codes of the International Standard ISO 4217, “Codes for the representation of currencies and funds,” for application in international trade and their use in commercial transactions when currencies are expressed in coded or abbreviated form. The code is designed to be equally suitable for automated or manual applications. This code is maintained by ISO.

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Recommendation 10 recommends that participants in international trade, including ship owners, port authorities and other parties involved in maritime transport of goods, use the International Maritime Organization’s Ship Identification Number Scheme for the unique identification of ships; and recommends to use only the final seven characters of the IMO number in automated applications.

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Recommendation 16 recommends a five-letter alphabetic code for abbreviating names of locations such as ports, airports, inland freight terminals, and other locations where Customs clearance of goods can take place, and whose names need to be represented unambiguously in data interchange.

The UN/LOCODE’s code list is updated twice a year and it currently contains over 100,000 location codes.

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Recommendation 17 provides abbreviations to certain terms of payment, referred to as “PAYTERMS”, for use in international trade transactions as appropriate. The “PAYTERMS” apply to commercial transactions relating to the provision of goods and/or services.

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Recommendation 19 establishes a one-digit numerical code for representing transport modes and provides for a second digit for subdivisions, which might be required. This Recommendation applies to all cases where the mode of transport is represented in coded form in international trade documents and where a simple code structure suffices.

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Recommendation 20 Provides three character alphabetic and alphanumeric codes for representing units of measurement for length, area, volume/capacity, mass (weight), time, and other quantities used in international trade. The codes are intended for use in manual and/or automated systems for the exchange of information between participants in international trade.

Facilitates use of Recommendation 20. The code list is presented in three separate annexes:

• Annex I – Code elements listed by quantity category;
• Annex II – Code elements listed by unit of measure name; and
• Annex III – Code elements listed by common code.

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Recommendation 21 presents coded representations for the package type names used in international trade. The codes are intended for use in manual and/or automated systems for the exchange of information between participants in international trade.

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Recommendation 23 provides a naming system to be used to establish harmonized descriptions of freight costs and other charges related to the international movement of goods. It also specifies an unambiguous coded representation of those descriptions. It applies in all cases where descriptions of freight costs and other charges must be stated in plain language or in coded form in trade data interchange in paper documents or electronically.

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Recommendation 24 provides Transport Status Codes to satisfy requirements for exchanging coded information about the status of consignments, goods or means of transport at a certain time or place in the transport chain. Representation of Transport Status Codes can be given in plain language or in coded form. The codes provided for in the Recommendation are for use in manual and/or automated systems of information exchange in international trade

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Recommendation 28 establishes a common code list for the identification of the type of means of transport. It has particular relevance to transport organizations and providers, Customs and other authorities, statistical offices, forwarders, shippers, consignees and other parties concerned with transport. 

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