The Uncertainty of Abbreviated Country Codes

In International Trade, abbreviated country codes are often used and are sometimes mandatory. They exist in a 2 letter code (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2) and a 3 letter code (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3, used by the United Nations). It is important to use the right codes, as errors can have unintended consequences. We have seen Germany erroneously shown as GE instead of DE, GE is the country code for The Republic of Georgia. The conversion from 3 to 2 letter codes can also be tricky. Sometimes, you can simply use the first 2 letters of a 3 letter code, as in FR instead of FRA for France. Other times, doing that may get you in trouble, as in using IR for IRL (Ireland), when in fact IR is the 2 letter country code for Iran and IE the 2 letter code for Ireland. 2 digit codes can also be mistaken for US State abbreviations, with Israel (IL) being confused with Illinois (IL). Several web sites list both 2 and 3 digit country codes. They should be consulted before your freight ends up in Australia (AU) instead of Austria (AT).

 

Contributor: Pierre Fay

References: http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/ctycodes.htm

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