A Peppol participant identifier addresses an organization on the network. It has two parts: a scheme that names the register the value comes from, and the value itself. The scheme codes come from the OpenPeppol Participant Identifier Schemes code list, which is based on ISO 6523 International Code Designators and extended with Peppol-specific values. This is a network-level identifier, governed separately from the electronic address written inside an invoice.

The participant identifier scheme used throughout the Peppol network is iso6523-actorid-upis. Within it, an identifier is a numeric scheme code followed by the value issued by that register.

The scheme code identifies the register. 0088 is the Global Location Number, 0007 the Swedish organization number, 0192 the Norwegian organization number. The value is the identifier that register issued. Together they are unique across the network, which is what allows a document to be routed without any prior relationship between sender and receiver.

When the same scheme and value are used for network routing and document addressing, they appear in different representations.

Document EndpointID, where the scheme moves into an attribute:

The meta-scheme prefix and double colon are used in SMP REST resource URLs and may appear in technical logs. SML discovery is DNS-based and derives its lookup name from the participant identifier. Confirm the exact representation your tooling expects before hard-coding it.

The meta scheme iso6523-actorid-upis is case sensitive and must be written exactly as shown.

Participant identifier values are case insensitive, and the policy is explicit that this applies even where the underlying register uses case-sensitive values. Do not rely on case to distinguish two identifiers.

A participant identifier value is 1 to 130 characters, excluding the scheme. It may contain only letters, digits, hyphen, period, underscore and tilde from ISO-8859-1. Values containing spaces, slashes or other characters outside this set do not comply with the policy and may fail resolution.

The numeric scheme codes are based on ISO 6523 ICD values, but the Peppol list is not identical to ISO 6523. Peppol maintains its own list because it contains additional values, which are assigned in a range beginning with 99.

The practical consequence is that you cannot validate a Peppol scheme code against an ISO 6523 list alone. A code may be correct in Peppol and absent from ISO 6523, and a code may exist in ISO 6523 without being permitted in Peppol.

Entries in the Participant Identifier Schemes list carry a state. Of the 105 entries in v9.7, 5 are deprecated and 16 removed. Deprecated entries must not be used for newly exchanged business documents or new SMP registrations. Removed entries must not be used at all.

Scheme identifiers are never reused. A code that has been deprecated will not later be reassigned to a different register, so an old identifier can be interpreted safely even after the scheme is retired.

An invoice carries the seller and buyer electronic addresses in BT-34 and BT-49, using the EAS code list. The participant identifier addresses the receiver at the network level. The same code and value may be used in both places, but they are governed by different specifications and code lists with different version numbers.

Treat them as two separate facts to verify. A document can carry a correct EAS value and still fail to route if the receiver is not registered under the matching participant identifier.

The scheme is written with the wrong case. iso6523-actorid-upis is case sensitive. ISO6523-ActorID-upis is a different string and will not match.

The value carries formatting from the source system. Swedish organization numbers are often stored as 556123-4567. The hyphen is a permitted character, but the register value is 5561234567, and the receiver is registered under that. Spaces, slashes and characters outside the permitted set do not comply with the participant identifier policy.

The value is correct and the scheme is wrong. 0007:5561234567 et 0088:5561234567 are two different participants. A GLN and an organization number are never interchangeable even when the digits look plausible.

The scheme has been deprecated or removed from the Participant Identifier Schemes list. Every entry carries a state and, where applicable, a removal date. Version 9.7 holds 105 entries, of which 5 are deprecated and 16 removed. A participant identifier under a removed scheme must not be used, even if stale registration data still exists.

The Finnish scheme 0037, LY-tunnus, was deprecated in code list release 8.9 and carries a removal date of 31 December 2024. Code 0216, OVTcode, is an active Finnish participant identifier scheme. Other valid schemes may also be used. Code 0037 was removed separately from the EAS code list in BIS Billing 3.0.21. The two lists are maintained independently, so check the list that governs the field you are reviewing.

The receiver is registered, but not for this document type. Registration is per document type and process. A participant that receives invoices does not automatically receive credit notes, orders or despatch advices.