UN/EDIFACT (United Nations Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport) defines a rich library of standardized message types that enable businesses to exchange structured data electronically. Each message type serves a specific purpose in the business process chain — from ordering and invoicing to transport and inventory management.
EDIFACT messages are built from a hierarchy of components: segments (identified by three-letter tags like BGM, DTM, NAD), data elements, and composite data elements. Each message type specifies which segments are mandatory, conditional, or optional, and defines their order and nesting within segment groups. This strict structure ensures that trading partners can interpret the data consistently, regardless of their internal systems.
The message types below cover the most widely adopted EDIFACT messages across industries including retail, manufacturing, logistics, utilities, and finance. Click on any message type to learn about its structure, key segments, common use cases, and implementation considerations.
Commercial Messages
Messages that support the core buy-sell cycle between trading partners.
ORDERS — Purchase Order
Used by buyers to place orders with suppliers, specifying items, quantities, prices, delivery dates, and shipping instructions.
ORDRSP — Order Response
Sent by suppliers to confirm, reject, or propose changes to purchase orders received from buyers.
INVOIC — Invoice
The electronic equivalent of a paper invoice, detailing goods or services supplied, amounts due, taxes, and payment terms.
PRICAT — Price Catalogue
Communicates product pricing, catalogue data, and item master information from suppliers to buyers.
REMADV — Remittance Advice
Notifies a supplier about payments being made, linking payment amounts to specific invoices and credit notes.
Logistics Messages
Messages that manage the physical movement and receipt of goods.
DESADV — Despatch Advice
Sent by the shipper to notify the receiver about goods being despatched, including packaging and shipment details.
RECADV — Receiving Advice
Confirms the physical receipt of goods, reporting accepted and rejected quantities against the original despatch advice.
IFTMIN — Transport Instruction
Provides instructions from a shipper or freight forwarder to a carrier for the transport of goods.
IFTSTA — Transport Status
Reports the status of a transport operation, providing tracking updates and event notifications along the supply chain.
Reporting Messages
Messages for sharing inventory, sales, and consumption data between partners.
INVRPT — Inventory Report
Reports current stock levels and inventory movements, enabling suppliers to plan replenishment and production.
SLSRPT — Sales Report
Shares point-of-sale and sell-through data from retailers to suppliers for demand planning and forecasting.
MSCONS — Metered Services Consumption
Reports metered consumption data for utilities such as electricity, gas, and water between market participants.
Technical Messages
Messages that support the EDI infrastructure by providing acknowledgments and error reporting.
CONTRL — Control / Acknowledgment
A syntax-level acknowledgment confirming that an interchange was received and whether it could be parsed correctly.
APERAK — Application Error
Reports application-level errors when a received message is syntactically valid but contains business-rule violations.
Understanding EDIFACT Message Structure
Every EDIFACT message follows the same structural hierarchy. At the outermost level, an interchange envelope (UNB/UNZ) wraps one or more functional groups (UNG/UNE), each containing individual messages. Each message begins with a UNH (Message Header) segment and ends with a UNT (Message Trailer) segment.
Within the message, segments are organized into segment groups that represent logical collections of related data. For example, in an INVOIC message, a segment group might contain a NAD (Name and Address) segment followed by related contact (CTA) and communication (COM) segments that together describe one party.
The EDIFACT standard is maintained by UN/CEFACT and is published in directories (e.g., D.96A, D.01B, D.16A) that define the precise structure and allowed values for each message type. Different industries often create subsets or implementation guidelines (such as EANCOM for retail or EDIFICE for electronics) that constrain the standard further to ensure interoperability within their sector.