PRESENTATION OF THE BIC-LOCODES

Download the Lo-Codes Register here

THE INTERNATIONAL PARTY IDENTIFICATION AND LOCATION CODES CALLED "BIC LOCODES" or "ISO 9897 CEDEX party-codes".

The international party identification and location of companies participating in standardized communication rules for commercial transactions related to containers is proposed by the Bureau International des Containers (B.I.C) since 1987 and has been standardized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1990.

It forms an essential part of the ISO 9897 standard : « Freight Containers – Container Equipment Data Exchange (CEDEX) – General Communication Codes ».

(Such standard describes otherwise the technical data elements and code sets to be used for operational container transactions including, movements, maintenance and repair, etc.).

It comprises :

* 5-Alpha the official UN-LOCODE by UNECE of which:

• 2 letters identifying the country (ISO 3166),

• 3 letters identifying the location,

* 4-Alpha of which:

• 3 letters identifying the owner/operator by their registered BIC-code or a company acting on behalf of owner/operator by a code assigned by BIC,

• the last letter being ‘A’ for the first physical address at a location, ‘B’ for the second and so on if more than one physical site per company in that specific location. Companies with mobile operations are identified by ‘M’. - Container leasing companies may request for ‘L’ as the last letter -

* Example (theoretical): FRPARBICA, for: Bureau International des Containers 38, rue des Blancs Manteaux – FR 75004 Paris, France.

It guarantees

* that the identification of the party, and its physical location of, is unique.

It permits

* the identification of the interchanging parties whether owner or principal operator or company to which the container has been interchanged.

* the identification of the location at which the container is physically residing at time of transaction.

It facilitates

* the operation of containers by computerized systems at interchange points of the container transportation chain.

* visibility and enhanced service in relation to container repositioning, interchange, repair and maintenance transactions, etc...

It is accepted by

* over 50% of the companies owning or operating containers using data-enabled equipment management and most companies providing computerized management systems.

It is used

* in over 70 countries by about 1800 service companies besides the owners or operators using their BIC-code based LOCODE, thus representing more than 50 % of the world container fleet.

It is distributed worldwide

* a list of the BIC-LOCODEs are shown in section 10 of the BIC-CODE Register published yearly

* the complete list of the BIC-LOCODEs is displayed and updated on a quarterly basis on the BIC Internet web site : www.bic-code.org