The United Nations Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC) is a taxonomy of products and services for use in eCommerce. It is a four-level hierarchy coded as an eight-digit number, with an optional fifth level adding two more digits.

The latest release (August 14, 2023) of the code set is 26.0801.[1]

The third newest UNv240301 release contains 740 changes to the previous UNSPSC version UNv23.0701 which are 721 new items added, 12 existing items edited, 6 existing items moved, and 1 existing item deleted. The new UNv24.0301 release contains 157,116 total items.

The changes include a new Segment 57000000 -Humanitarian Relief Items, Kits, or Accessories, requested by United Nation Global Marketplace (UNGM); additional codes were added to support the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in is effort to the Specialty Crops Inspection at the U.S. border.

The UNSPSC competes with a number of other product and commodity coding schemes, including the European Union's Common Procurement Vocabulary, ECLASS, and GS1's Global Product Classification.[2]

History

The UNSPSC was organized upon the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding signed on September 29, 1998, by John S. Svendsen, the director of the Inter-agency Procurement Services Office (IAPSO) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and on November 1, 1998, by Lawrence M. Barth, a Vice President of the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation. The development of the first version was overseen by Peter R. Benson, who was also responsible for the design and development of the code management procedure as a modification of the Delphi statistical forecasting method. The process allowed for the rapid development of consensus without dominance or influence.

The ECCMA, a non-profit membership association, was formed in 1999 to manage and promote the UNSPSC until March 2003, with the release of version 6.0315. The UNDP then appointed GS1 US as code manager in May 2003 and ECCMA develops the ECCMA Open Technical Dictionary (eOTD) and the international standards ISO 22745 and ISO 8000.

Version Number of Total Items
UNv26.0801 158448
UNv25.0901
UNv24.0301 157116
UNv23.0701 156936
UNv22.0601 156478
UNv21.0901
UNv20.0601 87477
UNv19.0501 83196
UNv18.0801
UNv17.1001
UNv14.0801 49069
UNv09.0501 21718
UNv08.1201 19038

Description

The four primary levels of the code are: Segment, Family, Class and Commodity.[3]

Each level is coded in two decimal digits, with '00' treated specially to give segments, families and classes their own eight-digit codes.

Level Code Description
Segment 10000000 Live Plant and Animal Material and Accessories and Supplies
Family 10100000 Live animals
Class 10101500 Livestock
Commodity 10101501 Cats

Thus 'Cats' are coded as 10101501, 'Dogs' are coded as 10101502 and 'Cattle' as 10101516. The class of 'Livestock' is 10101500; the family of 'Live animals' is 10100000, and all in the segment 10000000 of 'Live Plant and Animal Material and Accessories and Supplies'.

Level Code Description
Segment 44000000 Office Equipment, Accessories and Supplies
Family 44120000 Office supplies
Class 44121900 Ink and lead refills
Commodity 44121902 Lead refills

Optionally, a further two digits can be added for the business function, such as 'retail' or wholesale.[4]

Governance

The UNSPSC was jointly developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Dun & Bradstreet[5] in 1998 and is currently managed by GS1 US, which is responsible for overseeing code change requests, revising the codes and issuing regularly scheduled updates to the code, as well as managing special projects and initiatives.[6]

Availability and languages

The codeset is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Hungarian. The latest PDF version of the codeset is available for download at no cost, though a user account is required and can be created (also at no cost). A version in Microsoft Excel format is available to members, who can also request changes and suggest additions to the code.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "UNSPSC".
  2. ↑ "FINAL REPORT REVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONING OF THE CPV CODES/SYSTEM" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-09-10. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  3. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions". Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  4. ↑ "UNSPSC Classification Guidelines" (PDF). Uniform Code Council, Inc. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  5. ↑ Cavinato, Joseph L.; Flynn, Anna E.; Kauffman, Ralph G. (2006). The supply management handbook. McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 439.
  6. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions". UNSPSC.org. UNSPSC. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
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