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EDIFACT message reference

UN/EDIFACT is the international EDI standard maintained by the United Nations and used widely in Europe, Asia and global trade. Messages have six-letter names. This reference lists common messages and their closest ANSI X12 equivalents.

Inside a UN/EDIFACT interchangeNested boxes: the interchange, with an optional UNA service string advice and UNB and UNZ, contains an optional functional group with UNG and UNE, which contains a message opened by UNH and closed by UNT. Inside are segments such as BGM, DTM, NAD, LIN, QTY and UNS.Inside a UN/EDIFACT interchangeMessages travel in an interchange, optionally groupedInterchangeUNAUNBUNZOptional UNA sets the separators; UNB carries sender, recipient and control referenceFunctional group (optional)UNGUNERarely used; groups messages of one typeMessageUNHUNTOne business message, such as ORDERS, with its directory versionBGMDTMNADLINQTYUNS
Inside a UN/EDIFACT interchangeNested boxes: the interchange, with an optional UNA service string advice and UNB and UNZ, contains an optional functional group with UNG and UNE, which contains a message opened by UNH and closed by UNT. Inside are segments such as BGM, DTM, NAD, LIN, QTY and UNS.Inside a UN/EDIFACTinterchangeMessages travel in an interchange, optionallygroupedInterchangeUNAUNBUNZOptional UNA sets the separators; UNBcarries sender, recipient and controlreferenceFunctional group (optional)UNGUNERarely used; groups messages of one typeMessageUNHUNTOne business message, such asORDERS, with its directory versionBGMDTMNADLINQTYUNS

EDIFACT nests like X12, but the functional group level is optional and rarely used. Segments repeat in numbered segment groups, for example a group per line item starting with LIN.

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EDIFACT messages by business areaEDIFACT message pages by business area: Finance 37, Transport 36, Healthcare and social 20, Insurance 18, Travel and tourism 16, Projects and construction 14, Customs and regulatory 14, Master data 11, Statistics and reporting 8, Shipping and logistics 7, Communications 7, Ordering 7, Planning and inventory 6, Government and legal 5, Control and acknowledgments 4, Catalogs and pricing 2.EDIFACT messages by business areaThe message pages in this reference, grouped by business areaFinance37 messagesAUTHORBALANCBANSTABUSCRDCHACCO…Transport36 messagesBAPLIEBERMANBMISRMCALINFCOARRI…Healthcare and social20 messagesCOPAYMIHCEBIIHCLMEJAPRESJOBAPP…Insurance18 messagesICASRPICSOLIIFTICLINSPREIPPOAD…Travel and tourism16 messagesAVLREQAVLRSPPASREQPASRSPRESMSG…Projects andconstruction14 messagesCNTCNDCONAPWCONDPVCONDRACONDRO…Customs and regulatory14 messagesCODENOCUSCARCUSDECCUSEXPCUSPED…Master data11 messagesCLASETDAPLOSDIRDEFDMRDEFDMSTAT…Statistics and reporting8 messagesBOPBNKBOPCUSBOPDIRBOPINFGESMES…Shipping and logistics7 messagesDESADVHANMOVINSDESITRRPTRECADV…Communications7 messagesGENRALINFCONINSREQINSRPTPROSRV…Ordering7 messagesORDCHGORDERSORDRSPOSTENQOSTRPT…Planning and inventory6 messagesDELFORDELJITINVRPTPRODEXSLSFCT…Government and legal5 messagesCASINTCASRESJINFDEWKGRDCWKGRREControl andacknowledgments4 messagesAPERAKAUTACKCONTRLKEYMANCatalogs and pricing2 messagesPRICATPRIHIS
EDIFACT messages by business areaEDIFACT message pages by business area: Finance 37, Transport 36, Healthcare and social 20, Insurance 18, Travel and tourism 16, Projects and construction 14, Customs and regulatory 14, Master data 11, Statistics and reporting 8, Shipping and logistics 7, Communications 7, Ordering 7, Planning and inventory 6, Government and legal 5, Control and acknowledgments 4, Catalogs and pricing 2.EDIFACT messages bybusiness areaThe message pages in this reference, groupedby business areaFinance37 messagesAUTHORBALANCBANSTABUSCRDCHACCO…Transport36 messagesBAPLIEBERMANBMISRMCALINFCOARRI…Healthcare and social20 messagesCOPAYMIHCEBIIHCLMEJAPRESJOBAPP…Insurance18 messagesICASRPICSOLIIFTICLINSPREIPPOAD…Travel and tourism16 messagesAVLREQAVLRSPPASREQPASRSPRESMSG…Projects and construction14 messagesCNTCNDCONAPWCONDPVCONDRACONDRO…Customs and regulatory14 messagesCODENOCUSCARCUSDECCUSEXPCUSPED…Master data11 messagesCLASETDAPLOSDIRDEFDMRDEFDMSTAT…Statistics and reporting8 messagesBOPBNKBOPCUSBOPDIRBOPINFGESMES…Shipping and logistics7 messagesDESADVHANMOVINSDESITRRPTRECADV…Communications7 messagesGENRALINFCONINSREQINSRPTPROSRV…Ordering7 messagesORDCHGORDERSORDRSPOSTENQOSTRPT…Planning and inventory6 messagesDELFORDELJITINVRPTPRODEXSLSFCT…Government and legal5 messagesCASINTCASRESJINFDEWKGRDCWKGRREControl and acknowledgments4 messagesAPERAKAUTACKCONTRLKEYMANCatalogs and pricing2 messagesPRICATPRIHIS

Each card is one business area, with the number of message pages and a few examples. Select a card to jump to its group in the list below, or a message to open its page. EDIFACT names messages with six letters: ORDERS is a purchase order, DESADV a despatch advice and INVOIC an invoice.

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MessageNameUsed toX12 equivalent
ORDERS Purchase order Buyer orders goods or services. 850
ORDRSP Purchase order response Supplier confirms or changes an order. 855
ORDCHG Purchase order change request Buyer changes an order. 860
DESADV Despatch advice Describes a shipment before arrival. 856
RECADV Receiving advice Confirms goods received. 861
INVOIC Invoice Bills for goods or services. 810
REMADV Remittance advice Explains a payment. 820
PAYMUL Multiple payment order Instructs a bank to make multiple payments. —
FINSTA Financial statement of an account Bank account statement. —
DELFOR Delivery schedule Shares forecasts and delivery requirements. 830
DELJIT Delivery just in time Gives precise just-in-time requirements. 862
INVRPT Inventory report Shares inventory levels. 846
SLSRPT Sales data report Shares sales data by item and location. 852
PRICAT Price/sales catalogue Shares item and price information. 832
IFTMIN Instruction message Transport booking or instruction. 204
IFTSTA International multimodal status report Reports transport status. 214
APERAK Application error and acknowledgement Reports business-level errors. 824
CONTRL Syntax and service report Confirms receipt and syntax validity. 997
CUSDEC Customs declaration Submits customs declarations. —

Equivalents are approximate. EDIFACT and X12 documents may differ in scope and structure.

All EDIFACT message guides

Every message type in the current UN/EDIFACT directory with its own page in the Learning Center, grouped by business area.

EDIFACT structure basics

An EDIFACT interchange starts with an optional UNA segment that defines delimiters, followed by UNB (interchange header) and ends with UNZ. Each message is enclosed in UNH and UNT. Within a message, segments such as BGM (beginning of message), DTM (dates), NAD (name and address) and LIN (line item) carry the business data.

Typical delimiters are + between data elements, : between components and ' at the end of each segment. Messages are published in directory versions such as D96A or D01B, and trading partners specify the version and subset they use.

Read more in X12 vs EDIFACT.

Trading with international partners?

ECOM supports EDIFACT and X12 on one platform, with maps for each partner.

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