In message <02e401bf78cc$3b869340$120101c1@williamk>, William J.
Kammerer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes
>I am rarely so forward as to correct people, but Chris should note that
>the name "EAN" doesn't stand for anything, and the "E" certainly does
>not stand for "European" - at least not anymore. They just call
>themselves "EAN International ." This is a politically sensitive
>topic, not only to parochial Americans, but to anyone else in the world
>outside of Europe. See the EAN FAQ question "Is the system really
>international?" at http://www.ean.be/html/FAQ.html.
I can appreciate that, given the torpor which has reigned here recently,
you would welcome the opportunity to trail your coat, William. Never let
it be said that I humbly turned the other cheek! Of the 459 hits that a
search on "european article numbering" turned up, the first was from the
minutes of a 1995 ISO meeting, containing the phrase "SC 9 discussed a
revision of the ISO standard on .... in response to concerns raised by
the European Article Numbering (EAN) association ....". I will not bore
the list with the remaining 458.
I am however very grateful to you, since "The name "EAN" doesn't stand
for anything", quoted suitably out of context, will serve to infuriate
my former colleague Jeremy, who now works for EAN Sweden. The material
for such small acts of malice is always welcome.
>Unfortunately, Donna's German customer may not have the flexibility to
>differentiate between a DUNS number and an EAN/UCC ILN, even though both
>conform to ISO 6523 (the Structure for the identification of
>organizations) , and might demand that a UCC/EAN ILN be used in any
>case. And more likely than not, Donna's customer is using the EANCOM
>EDIFACT message implementation guidelines, produced by the EAN which has
>little interest in providing for the use of DUNS numbers to identify
>parties or locations (e.g., in the EDIFACT NAD segment).
The first time I ever *heard* of DUNS numbers was when I chanced on them
in the code list for element 3055, which is part of composite C082,
which in its turn figures prominently at the head of a NAD segment. So
EDIFACT itself is in the clear here. The EANCOM subset does not include
a specific code for DUNS number, although I suppose you could class it
as a 'national agency'. I guess they are understandably partisan!
Regards
Chris
--
Chris Johnson tel: +44 (0)20 8 501 1490 (home)
EDIMatrix Ltd +44 (0)20 8 559 2454 (work)
+44 (0)20 8 559 2497 (fax)
http://www.edimatrix.demon.co.uk
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