0.    INTRODUCTION

       This specification provides the definition of the Commercial
       dispute message (COMDIS) to be used in Electronic Data
       Interchange (EDI) between trading partners involved in
       administration, commerce and transport.

1.    SCOPE

1.1   Functional Definition

       A notice of commercial dispute against one or more invoices is
       usually raised by the buyer to notify the seller that something
       was found wrong with the goods delivered or the services
       rendered (goods damaged, delivery incomplete, delivery late,
       etc.). The dispute must be resolved before the related invoice
       can be settled.
       
       The message will be used to: - notify a dispute; - correspond
       about an existing dispute (structured information); - notify
       the settlement of a dispute.
       
       The message will serve at the same time as the dispute notice
       and as the dispute answer.
       
       Throughout this document, the term 'Buyer' refers to either the
       buyer or an Agent acting on behalf of the Buyer, and the term
       'Seller' refers either to the seller or an Agent acting on
       behalf of the Seller.

1.2   Field of Application

       The Commercial dispute message may be used for both national
       and international applications. It is based on universal
       practice related to administration, commerce and transport, and
       is not dependent on the type of business or industry.

1.3   Principles

       The usual flow of communication is from buyer to seller: the
       buyer sends a dispute notice to the seller, and the seller
       sends back a dispute answer to the buyer. Optionally, the
       seller may also send a credit note. An alternative flow of
       communication is from seller to buyer, e.g. if the seller
       disputes the payment of a related invoice.
       
       If part of the invoice is disputed, then as a consequence the
       whole invoice will be disputed.
       
       - One dispute may relate to one or more invoices/credit notes;
       - One dispute may relate to one or more payments;
       - One dispute must relate to one seller;
       - One dispute must relate to one buyer.

2.    REFERENCES

       See UNTDID, Part 4, Chapter 2.6 UN/ECE UNSM - General Introduction,
       Section 1.

3.    TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

3.1   Standard terms and definitions

       See UNTDID, Part 4, Chapter 2.6 UN/ECE UNSM - General Introduction,
       Section 2.

4.    MESSAGE DEFINITION

4.1   Data Segment Clarification

       This section should be read in conjunction with the Segment
       Table which indicate mandatory, conditional and repeating
       requirements.

   UNH, Message header
       A service segment starting and uniquely identifying a message.
       The message type code for the Commercial dispute message is
       COMDIS.
       
       Note: Commercial dispute messages conforming to this document
       must contain the following data in segment UNH, composite S009:

       Data element  0065 COMDIS
                     0052 D
                     0054 97B
                     0051 UN

   BGM, Beginning of message
       A segment specifying the function and status of the message.

   RFF, Reference
       A segment identifying the reference of another message or
       transaction related to this message.

   DTM, Date/time/period
       A segment specifying the date and, when required, the time at
       which the message has been created as well as other dates and
       times relevant to the transactions.


   Segment group 1: NAD-CTA-COM
       A group of segments identifying the name and address of the
       parties involved in the transaction and their contacts.

      NAD, Name and address
          A segment identifying the name and address of the parties
          associated with the commercial dispute message.

      CTA, Contact information
          A segment identifying a person or a department for the party
          specified in the NAD segment and to whom communication
          should be directed.

      COM, Communication contact
          A segment providing a communication number for the party
          identified in the NAD segment and optionally for the contact
          identified in the associated CTA segment.


   Segment group 2: DOC-DTM-MOA-SG3-SG4-SG5
       A segment group providing details of all documents, e.g.
       invoices, payment orders, etc. to which the commercial dispute
       refers. It includes information on the monetary amounts for
       each document and on any adjustments (with an indication of the
       reason for adjustments) and on actions (to be) taken by the
       parties who are involved.

      DOC, Document/message details
          A segment for identifying the reference document to which
          the commercial dispute refers.

      DTM, Date/time/period
          A segment specifying the date and, when required, the time
          of the related documents in the DOC segment.

      MOA, Monetary amount
          A segment giving the monetary amounts of the original
          document, the amounts that has been paid, the amount that is
          disputed or adjusted.


      Segment group 3: AJT-FTX
          A group of segments to indicate the reasons of the dispute,
          with coded and free text information, related to the
          reference document.

         AJT, Adjustment details
             A segment indicating the reason of the dispute.

         FTX, Free text
             A segment with free text information, related to the
             dispute reasons and the reference document.


      Segment group 4: INP-FTX
          A group of segments indicating the actions to be taken and
          the actions taken.

         INP, Parties and instruction
             A segment indicating the actions to be taken, and the
             actions taken, and specifying the parties involved in
             these actions.

         FTX, Free text
             A segment with free text information, with additional
             information on the actions to be taken and the actions
             taken.


      Segment group 5: DLI-MOA-SG6
          A group of segments which may be used when required to
          provide details of individual line items in the reference
          document.

         DLI, Document line identification
             A segment identifying a specific line item within the
             referenced document.

         MOA, Monetary amount
             A segment giving the monetary amounts of the original
             line item, and the amount that is disputed or adjusted.


         Segment group 6: AJT-FTX
             A group of segments to indicate the reasons of the
             dispute, with coded and free text information, related to
             the reference line item.

            AJT, Adjustment details
                A segment indicating the reason of the dispute,
                related to the reference line item.

            FTX, Free text
                A segment with free text information, related to the
                dispute reasons and the reference line item.

   UNT, Message trailer
       A service segment ending a message, giving the total number of
       segments in the message and the control reference number of the
       message.

4.2   Data segment index (Alphabetical sequence by tag)

          AJT Adjustment details
          BGM Beginning of message
          COM Communication contact
          CTA Contact information
          DLI Document line identification
          DOC Document/message details
          DTM Date/time/period
          FTX Free text
          INP Parties and instruction
          MOA Monetary amount
          NAD Name and address
          RFF Reference
          UNH Message header
          UNT Message trailer

Contents of COMDIS