EPCIS Core Business Vocabularies (CBV)

Understanding GS1 Core Business Vocabularies and how they provide standardized terminology for EPCIS events.

Trace Hub Team January 01, 2024 Updated Jan 14, 2026 74 views

Core Business Vocabularies (CBV)

The Core Business Vocabulary (CBV) is a GS1 standard that provides predefined values for common EPCIS fields. Using CBV ensures interoperability across different systems and trading partners.

What CBV Standardizes

CBV provides standard values for:

CBV URI Structure

CBV values follow a standard URI pattern:

urn:epcglobal:cbv:[type]:[value]

Examples:
urn:epcglobal:cbv:bizstep:commissioning
urn:epcglobal:cbv:disp:active
urn:epcglobal:cbv:btt:po (Purchase Order)
urn:epcglobal:cbv:sdt:possessing_party

Business Transaction Types

Source and Destination Types

Used to indicate the owner, possessor, or location source/destination:

ILMD (Instance/Lot Master Data)

CBV also defines standard ILMD elements for capturing product-specific data:

<extension>
  <ilmd>
    <cbvmda:lotNumber>LOT123</cbvmda:lotNumber>
    <cbvmda:itemExpirationDate>2025-12-31</cbvmda:itemExpirationDate>
  </ilmd>
</extension>

Error Declarations

CBV provides standard error declaration reasons: