VTA Identifiers - ID

VTA Identifiers

Identifiers for value chain data exchange

VTA identifiers are designed to support reliable data exchange across value chains. In a value chain, many different parties need to exchange data about products, packaging, facilities, batches, serialized items, brands, materials and economic operators. This data often moves between different systems, standards, markets and organisations.

For this to work, every object or party referenced in the data exchange needs a stable identifier. Without stable identifiers, systems cannot reliably understand whether two data records refer to the same product model, the same packaging system, the same facility, the same batch or the same economic operator.

VTA identifiers provide a structured way to identify the main entities that are needed for value chain data exchange.

ISO/IEC 15459 context

VTA is an Issuing Agency Code registered under ISO/IEC 15459, Information technology — Automatic identification and data capture techniques — Unique identification.

ISO/IEC 15459 provides a framework for globally unique identification. It uses the concept of registered Issuing Agency Codes and rules for issuing identifiers in a way that prevents different issuing organisations from creating conflicting identifiers.

Within this framework, VTA is the ISO/IEC 15459 Issuing Agency Code. VTA identifiers are therefore issued under the VTA issuing agency namespace.

VTA applies the ISO/IEC 15459 principles to value chain data exchange. The VTA identifier structure combines:

• the ISO/IEC 15459 Issuing Agency Code VTA
• a VTA-controlled Identity Issuer Code
• a VTA Entity Class
• an Identifier Body

This makes it possible to combine global uniqueness, central governance and scalable local issuing.

Why VTA identifiers are needed

Many existing identifiers are designed for a specific industry, market, organisation or use case. They are often excellent within their original context, but less suitable when data needs to move across many domains.

Value chain data exchange requires identifiers that are:

• globally understandable
• machine-readable
• stable over time
• suitable for multiple entity types
• usable by both central authorities and local issuing systems
• flexible enough for different industries and technical environments

VTA identifiers are not intended to replace all existing identifiers. Instead, they provide a common identifier framework that can be used in data exchange to reference entities consistently.

A VTA identifier can point to a product model, a packaging system, a sales unit, a facility, a batch, a serialized item, a material platform, an economic operator or a trademark/brand.

Central and local issuing

VTA supports both central and local issuing of identifiers.

Some identifiers need to be governed centrally because duplicate identifiers would create major problems in the value chain. Economic Operator identifiers are an example. If the same legal or economic party receives multiple independent identifiers from different identity issuers, systems may not be able to determine that these identifiers refer to the same party. For this reason, Economic Operator identifiers can be centrally issued.

Other identifiers can be issued locally by authorised identity issuers. For example, a product manufacturer, platform or system provider may issue identifiers for product models, packaging systems, batches or serialized items within its own VTA identity issuer namespace. As long as the Identity Issuer Code is unique within VTA and the issuing rules are followed, the resulting full VTA identifier remains globally unique.

This combination makes VTA practical for real-world implementation. It allows central governance where needed, while still allowing local systems to create identifiers at scale.

Identifier structure

A VTA identifier consists of several parts:

Part														A simplified structure is: VTA + Identity Issuer Code + Entity Class + Identifier Body Example: VTA0000H12345678 In this example: Part Example The Identity Issuer Code ensures that different authorised identity issuers can issue identifiers without creating collisions. The Entity Class ensures that the identifier can be interpreted in the correct value chain context. Reserved central identity issuer code The Identity Issuer Code 0000 is reserved for centrally issued VTA identifiers. This means that an identifier such as: VTA0000H... can be recognised as a centrally issued VTA Economic Operator identifier. The code 0000 should not be used as a placeholder, unknown value, default value or temporary value. It is a valid reserved Identity Issuer Code for centrally governed VTA identifiers. Flexible length VTA identifiers support flexible identifier lengths. Different entity classes have different practical requirements. For example, a Product Model identifier may need a different length than a Batch identifier or a Serialized Item identifier. Some identifiers are expected to remain relatively short and stable, while others may need additional capacity because they are issued in large volumes. Each entity class can define its own minimum, preferred and maximum length for the Identifier Body. Key Entity Class Type Minimum length Preferred length Flexible length makes the identifier framework more adaptable. It avoids forcing all entity types into the same format, while still keeping the overall structure consistent. Character set VTA identifiers should use a restricted character set that is suitable for machine-readable data exchange. The recommended character set is uppercase alphanumeric characters: A-Z and 0-9 Special characters, spaces and separators should not be used in the VTA identifier itself, unless explicitly allowed by the VTA issuing rules for a specific use case. This keeps VTA identifiers suitable for XML, JSON, XLS, barcodes, QR codes, APIs and other data exchange formats. Field keys for data exchange In XML, JSON, XLS and other data exchange formats, each VTA identifier type should have a clear and stable field key. The recommended convention is to use the readable English entity name in UpperCamelCase, followed by ID. This keeps the data exchange format understandable without requiring users to learn short internal abbreviations. Identifier type For future VTA entity classes, the same convention should be used: EntityNameID Examples: Future entity class Entity classes VTA identifiers use an Entity Class key to indicate what type of entity is being identified. A: Product Model A Product Model identifies the product as a model or specification. It is not a single physical item and not necessarily a specific commercial sales unit. It is the product definition that can be used across markets, channels or packaging configurations. Product Model identifiers are useful when product-related data needs to be exchanged independently from packaging, logistics or serialization. B: Packaging System A Packaging System identifies a packaging configuration or packaging structure. This can include the combination of packaging components that together form the packaging system for a product or sales unit. Packaging System identifiers support exchange of packaging-related data, such as material composition, recyclability, packaging tax data and sustainability information. C: Sales Unit A Sales Unit identifies a commercial unit that can be sold or exchanged in the market. It can combine product, packaging and other commercial attributes. Sales Unit identifiers are useful when data exchange needs to refer to a tradeable unit rather than only the product model or packaging system. D: Facility A Facility identifies a physical site, such as a production location, warehouse, distribution centre or other relevant value chain location. Facility identifiers can be used in data exchange for traceability, sustainability declarations, manufacturing information, compliance data and supply chain transparency. E: Batch A Batch identifies a group of products or materials produced, processed or handled together under defined conditions. Batch identifiers are important for traceability, quality management, recalls, compliance and product-specific declarations that apply to a production batch rather than to an individual item. The Batch entity class supports a flexible Identifier Body length, allowing different industries and systems to use batch identifiers with different levels of complexity. F: Serialized Item A Serialized Item identifies an individual physical item. Serialized Item identifiers may be issued in very high volumes and are often generated in operational systems. VTA supports this by allowing authorised identity issuers to issue serialized item identifiers within their own VTA identity issuer namespace. For serialized items, the Identity Issuer Code can be followed by an Identifier Body that is generated by an internal system. This allows companies to continue using internal serial number generation logic while making the resulting identifier globally unique in the VTA framework. For example: VTA1234FABC987654 In this example: Part Example This makes VTA suitable for item-level data exchange without requiring every serial number to be centrally issued. G: Material Platform A Material Platform identifies a material concept or material platform that can be referenced across products, packaging or value chain processes. This can be used to exchange data about material composition, material origin, recycled or virgin content, certification, environmental impact and other material-related declarations. H: Economic Operator An Economic Operator identifies a party in the value chain. This can include manufacturers, importers, distributors, authorised representatives, fulfilment service providers or other parties that have a role in placing, moving or maintaining products in the market. Economic Operator identifiers are candidates for central issuing because the same party may appear in many data exchanges, systems and value chains. A centrally issued identifier reduces the risk of duplicates and helps systems recognise the same party across different contexts. Example: VTA0000H12345678 This indicates a centrally issued VTA identifier for an Economic Operator. I: Trademark / Brand A Trademark / Brand identifier identifies a brand, trademark or other market-facing identity. This is useful when product data exchange needs to distinguish between the manufacturer, the owner of the brand, the commercial product identity and the actual product model. Identity issuer permissions Not every identity issuer should be allowed to issue every type of VTA identifier. VTA can use identity issuer permissions to define which entity classes an identity issuer is allowed to issue. This prevents uncontrolled creation of identifiers for entity classes that require stronger governance. For example, an identity issuer may be allowed to issue Product Model, Batch and Serialized Item identifiers, but not Economic Operator identifiers. This creates a clear governance model: Role The identity issuer of an identifier does not need to be the same party as the maintainer or resolver of the related data. This distinction is important in value chain data exchange, where different parties may create, maintain, exchange or host different parts of the data. Relationship with existing identifiers VTA identifiers can coexist with existing identifiers. A product, facility, batch, item or economic operator may already have other identifiers from industry standards, regulatory frameworks or internal systems. A VTA identifier can be used as a common reference in data exchange, while existing identifiers can be stored as additional identifiers or external references. Examples of external identifiers include: Entity This makes VTA a bridge for data exchange, not a replacement for every identifier already used in the market. Benefits of the VTA identifier model The VTA identifier model provides several benefits: Benefit Example identifiers Example identifier These examples are illustrative only. The actual Identifier Body must be created according to the issuing rules for the entity class and identity issuer. Summary VTA identifiers provide a structured identifier framework for value chain data exchange. They combine: the ISO/IEC 15459 Issuing Agency Code VTA a VTA-controlled Identity Issuer Code a VTA Entity Class a flexible Identifier Body This allows VTA to support both centrally governed identifiers and locally issued identifiers. Central issuing can be used where uniqueness across the full value chain is critical, such as Economic Operators. Local issuing can be used where identifiers need to be created at scale, such as Product Models, Batches or Serialized Items. The result is an identifier framework that is structured, scalable and suitable for cross-company data exchange.