GS1 currently publishes three standards for electronic communications:

• EANCOM
• GS1 XML
• TRADACOMS

TRADACOMS is a national (UK) standard that has been successfully deployed since 1982 by organisations wishing to take advantage of electronic data interchange (EDI) with their trading partners. It is used in many areas of UK industry including clothing, insurance, DIY, electronics, mail order, records, retail, white goods, transport, chemicals, pharmaceutical, public utilities, heavy industry and publishing.

However, TRADACOMS was developed specifically for the UK domestic market and does not provide the functionality needed in international trade, such as multiple currency and flexible tax declaration. It cannot, therefore, be used for cross-border trading.

By contrast EANCOM, based on the UN/EDIFACT international standard, was developed to support international as well as domestic trade. It was introduced at the beginning of the 1990s by GS1 (then called EAN International) in response to companies’ demand for a single international EDI standard.

GS1 XML was also developed as a global standard for international and domestic trade. It was developed in response to companies’ demands, recognising the intrinsic features of the XML syntax, such as its versatility and ability to support interactivity, and the fact that all major software providers have embraced it. The expectation is that use of XML will grow rapidly.

GS1 UK Policy

1. GS1 UK will continue to publish the TRADACOMS standard and provide a basic level of advice to users and to potential users, but will not develop the standards any further. No new message types will be created and change requests will not be accepted. The one exception is that modifications will be made to the standards to respond as necessary to legal or fiscal changes imposed by UK government.

2. GS1 UK will continue to publish and promote the EANCOM and GS1 XML standards. It will continue to engage actively in the GS1 work to develop, maintain and enhance these standards and will support, as appropriate, UK change requests submitted to the Global Standards Management Process.

3. GS1 UK believes that EANCOM and GS1 XML will co-exist for the foreseeable future and supports GS1 work to enable this co-existence to operate smoothly.

4. GS1 UK believes that EANCOM and GS1 XML provide UK companies with:

• an opportunity to adopt standards suited to international business;
• an opportunity to review and simplify the use of EDI;
• an opportunity to simplify business processes and align with good practice.

At the same time GS1 UK recognises that companies will only change from TRADACOMS to a global standard if there is a business justification to do so, and that use of TRADACOMS is likely to continue for a considerable time.

• UK EDIFACT, a standard published by GS1 UK (then called ANA) during the 1990s, is no longer made available, supported or maintained. Users are advised to migrate from this standard to EANCOM and/or GS1 XML.

Please contact the GS1 UK Service Desk for guidance in order to facilitate any migration plans that you may have.