Commodity codes: UNSPSC, ECLASS, CPV and HS

Published 25 October 2026 · 6 min read

A commodity code is a standard code that identifies what a product or service is, independent of who sells it or how your organisation describes it. Several systems exist, each built for a different job. Choosing the wrong one for spend analysis is a common and expensive mistake, so here is what each is for.

UNSPSC

The United Nations Standard Products and Services Code is a hierarchy of four main levels — segment, family, class, commodity — giving an eight-digit code, with an optional fifth level for business function. It covers goods and services across every industry, which is why it is the most common choice for classifying procurement spend. Its weakness is depth in some areas and gaps in others: highly technical manufacturing parts can be hard to place precisely. Our UNSPSC guide goes into the structure in detail.

ECLASS

ECLASS (formerly eCl@ss) is a product classification standard with strong adoption in German-speaking and European manufacturing. Alongside the four-level class hierarchy it defines detailed product properties, which makes it excellent for product data exchange and catalogues. That detail is more than spend analysis needs, and its services coverage is thinner.

CPV

The Common Procurement Vocabulary is the EU's classification for public procurement. Tender notices in the EU carry CPV codes, and UK public tender notices still use them. If you sell to or buy for the public sector you will meet CPV constantly. It is built for describing the subject of a tender, which makes it a reasonable but not ideal choice for analysing everyday spend.

HS codes

The Harmonized System classifies goods for customs and trade. Every import and export declaration carries one, and duty rates depend on it. HS is precise about physical goods and silent about services, so it is the wrong tool for spend analysis — but your logistics or trade team will already use it.

NAICS, SIC and NACE

These classify industries, not products: what a company does, not what you bought from it. They are useful for supplier segmentation and for services spend, where “what the supplier does” is close to “what you bought”. See UNSPSC vs NAICS for how the two fit together.

Which one should you use?

Analysing your own spend: UNSPSC, or a taxonomy aligned to it.
Product catalogues and data exchange in manufacturing: ECLASS.
Public sector tenders: CPV, because the notices require it.
Customs and trade: HS, because the law requires it.
Segmenting suppliers by industry: NAICS or NACE.

The practical problem

Whichever standard you pick, the hard part is assigning codes to thousands of lines of free-text descriptions. Raw codes are also not how buyers think: an analyst wants to see Cleaning supplies, not a code. The usual answer is a readable three-level taxonomy that maps to the standard underneath.

How Structera helps

Structera builds that readable taxonomy from your own line items and aligns it to UNSPSC, with NAICS and NACE cross-references, so you get names your team understands and a standard behind them. Categorise a sample free.