UNSPSC
The United Nations Standard Products and Services Code® (UNSPSC®) is an open global coding system that classifies products and services. The UNSPSC is used extensively around the world in electronic catalogs, search engines, procurement application systems, and accounting systems. The UNSPSC allows trading partners worldwide to consistently classify products and services, resulting in greater accuracy and efficiency throughout the supply chain. The UNSPSC is a hierarchical set of product categories.
Example:
- Hierarchy: Category Name (Code)
- Segment: Medical Equipment, Accessories, and Supplies (42.00.00.00)
- Family: Wound care products (42.21.00.00)
- Class: Wound packing products (42.21.04.00)
- Commodity: Packing strips for wound care (42.21.04.02)
The UNSPSC was released as an open standard in April 1999. As an open standard, use of the code is
free of licensing fees. There is a nominal fee to participate in the development of the code, only
as is required to cover the administration costs of the non-profit code management organization.
