ISO-6523

ISO 6523. The standard that has codified unambiguous organisation identification by scheme + identifier pair since 1984.

Definition

ISO 6523 is the international standard that defines a structured way to unambiguously identify any organisation (company, public administration, association). It introduces the concept of a four-digit International Code Designator (ICD) that qualifies the identification scheme used: 0088 for GS1 GLN, 0184 for DUNS, 9930 for the German trade register, etc.

Origin

ISO 6523 was published in 1984, revised in 1998 (Part 1) and 2000 (Part 2). It is maintained by ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 32. The ICD code registration authority is held by AFNOR on behalf of ISO. The ICD list is today also maintained by OASIS as an official code list, reused by PEPPOL and EN 16931.

Example in context

NAD+BY+3012345000003::9'

In an EDIFACT message, qualifier 9 on the NAD segment means "GS1 EAN.UCC" per UNCL 3055. In a UBL or Cross Industry Invoice payload, the same qualifier is expressed through the attribute schemeID="0088" as per ISO 6523.

Related terms

• ICD — the ISO 6523 four-digit qualifier.
• OASIS ICD list — the official ICD code list maintained by OASIS.
• PEPPOL — network that relies on ISO 6523 to identify parties.