The United Nations Code for Trade and Transport Locations (UN/LOCODE) is a five-character code system that provides a coded representation for the names of ports, airports, inland clearance depots, inland freight terminals and other transport related locations which are used for the movement of goods for trade.
The purpose and structure of UN/LOCODE are specified in UNECE Recommendation 16. Since the first release of UN/LOCODE in 1981, entries have increased from 8000 to over 100,000 today including locations in 249 countries, territories and special areas.
UN/LOCODE is used extensively throughout the world by the international trading community. It is mandatory to use UN/LOCODE for customs declarations and clearance in many countries. Some examples of standards and organizations that have adopted the use of UN/LOCODE are UN/EDIFACT, CITES and the World Customs Organization.
The continuous development and maintenance of UN/LOCODE are provided as a service by the secretariat to governments and to trade partners, within the framework of its trade facilitation activities. The UN/LOCODE Focal Point Network was established in 2015 in order to improved data quality through resources authorized by governments and international organizations. The UN/LOCODE Advisory Group was launched in 2017 in order to sustainably maintain and develop UN/LOCODE.
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