1、BSI Standards PublicationPostal services ExtensibleCommon Structure andRepresentation for Postal Rates EPRPD CEN/TS 16735:2015National forewordThis Published Document is the UK implementation of CEN/TS 16735:2015.The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to TechnicalCommittee SVS/4, Post
2、al services.A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained onrequest to its secretary.This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions ofa contract. Users are responsible for its correct application. The British Standards Institution 2015.Published by
3、BSI Standards Limited 2015ISBN 978 0 580 86034 8ICS 03.240Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity fromlegal obligations.This Published Document was published under the authority of theStandards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 March 2015.Amendments/corrigenda issued since public
4、ationDate Text affectedPUBLISHED DOCUMENTPD CEN/TS 16735:2015TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION SPCIFICATION TECHNIQUE TECHNISCHE SPEZIFIKATION CEN/TS 16735 March 2015 ICS 03.240 English Version Postal services - Extensible Common Structure and Representation for Postal Rates - EPR Services postaux - Structure
5、 commune extensible et reprsentation pour les tarifs postaux Postalische Dienstleistungen - Erweiterungsfhige gemeinsame Struktur und Reprsentation von Posttarifen -EPR This Technical Specification (CEN/TS) was approved by CEN on 30 September 2014 for provisional application. The period of validity
6、of this CEN/TS is limited initially to three years. After two years the members of CEN will be requested to submit their comments, particularly on the question whether the CEN/TS can be converted into a European Standard. CEN members are required to announce the existence of this CEN/TS in the same
7、way as for an EN and to make the CEN/TS available promptly at national level in an appropriate form. It is permissible to keep conflicting national standards in force (in parallel to the CEN/TS) until the final decision about the possible conversion of the CEN/TS into an EN is reached. CEN members a
8、re the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, R
9、omania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom. EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION COMIT EUROPEN DE NORMALISATION EUROPISCHES KOMITEE FR NORMUNG CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Avenue Marnix 17, B-1000 Brussels 2015 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and
10、 by any means reserved worldwide for CEN national Members. Ref. No. CEN/TS 16735:2015 EPD CEN/TS 16735:2015CEN/TS 16735:2015 (E) 2 Contents Page Foreword 4 Introduction .5 1 Scope . 10 2 Normative references . 10 3 Terms and definitions 10 4 Symbols and abbreviations . 13 5 General Concepts . 13 5.1
11、 Extensible Common Structure and Representation for Postal Rates (EPR) 13 5.2 Using EPR for design, communication and processing of Postal Rates . 18 5.3 Time 18 6 EPR XML Schema . 19 6.1 Introduction . 19 6.2 Structure of EPR Type 19 6.2.1 General . 19 6.2.2 EPR attributes . 24 6.3 Dimensional weig
12、ht 25 6.4 Calculated weight . 27 6.4.1 General . 27 6.4.2 Weight rounding . 28 6.5 Zone or Distance . 29 6.6 Calculated distance 30 6.7 Base amount . 31 6.7.1 General . 31 6.7.2 Amount rounding 35 6.8 Distance and weight based fees . 36 6.9 Dimension-based fees 37 6.10 Value-based fees. 38 6.11 Quan
13、tity-based fees . 39 6.12 Amount-based fees. 40 6.13 Date-based fees 41 6.14 Value added fees. 42 6.15 Generic fees 43 6.16 Taxes 44 6.17 Customs charges 45 6.18 EPR validity . 46 6.19 Terms and agreements 47 6.20 Information for human consumption 47 6.21 Foundation types 48 6.21.1 Table2D type 48 6
14、.21.2 RowType type 51 6.21.3 DataElementType type . 51 6.21.4 AlgorithmAndValue type 52 6.21.5 TimePeriodType type . 52 6.21.6 UpuDate type . 53 6.21.7 DataIntegrityInfoAlgorithm type 53 6.21.8 DataIntegrityInfoAlgorithmEnum enumeration . 53 6.21.9 CodeListType type 54 PD CEN/TS 16735:2015CEN/TS 167
15、35:2015 (E) 3 Annex A (informative) Example of EPR definition file La Poste COLISSIMO OUTRE-MER . 55 Annex B (informative) Example of EPR definition file USPS First Class Single Piece . 58 Annex C (informative) Example of XML schema for base amount calculation using product key input 62 Annex D (inf
16、ormative) EPR schema files 67 Annex E (informative) Intellectual property 75 Bibliography 77 PD CEN/TS 16735:2015CEN/TS 16735:2015 (E) 4 Foreword This document (CEN/TS 16735:2015) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 331 “Postal services”, the secretariat of which is held by NEN. Attentio
17、n is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN and/or CENELEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the
18、 following countries are bound to announce this Technical Specification: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Net
19、herlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom. PD CEN/TS 16735:2015CEN/TS 16735:2015 (E) 5 Introduction Standards are important prerequisites for effective postal operations and for interconnecting the global network. Signi
20、ficant efficiency can be gained by implementing standards that define interconnectivity between postal operators and their customers. The postal sector is now facing the most challenging period in its long history. On the one hand, up to a few years ago the postal sector in its letter mail market ha
21、s not faced competition from new entrants as a result of the historic reserved areas and letterbox monopoly. On the other hand it is confronting formidable competition from outside of its traditional boundaries (this type of competition is frequently referred to as “electronic substitution” or “elec
22、tronic diversion”). One of the most effective responses to competitive pressure is innovation. Innovation involving an extensive use of modern information technology has proven to be particularly effective in many fields. However, information technology, while deeply permeating many aspects of the p
23、ostal system, still lacks significant penetration when it is applied to postal product innovation, marketing and distribution. To alleviate this shortcoming UPU in collaboration with CEN/TC 331 developed and published the standard UPU S54. This standard is aimed at making a significant step forward
24、in enabling more effective use of information technology in these areas. The standard however does not fully address effective computer-aided management of postal rates by both postal operators and their customers. This Technical Specification has been developed to provide postal operators, carriers
25、, their customers and mailing industry at large with a tool designed for computerized creation, management and distribution of postal rates. Mail communication involves a complex process of mail item production, induction, processing, transportation and delivery. It consists of a sequence of informa
26、tion and physical activities. The physical activities (required for mail item production, induction, sort, transportation and delivery) are supported by information processing activities that play an increasingly important role in the overall system. Complexity of the mail communication system also
27、stems from the fact that different processes and activities (both physical and informational) are performed by different parties that are only loosely integrated and thus generally do not make optimal use of available information. In order to achieve a higher level of integration and better meet inc
28、reasingly demanding requirements of customers, the mail communication system requires that different parties, entities and processes within the system should be integrated together via a set of standardized interfaces. One of the most important interfaces is the set of rates for postal products. Thi
29、s is viewed in this Technical Specification as an information interface between posts (postal operators) and their customers, both mail senders and mail recipients. More specifically, from an information viewpoint, postal rates are data files that are created and managed by postal operators and carr
30、iers and distributed/shared with their customers. By defining postal rates using a computerized description resulting in a standardized electronic document (postal rate file), postal operators can enable its customers to more effectively review and choose products suitable for their communication ne
31、eds as well as provide for automated computing and application of postal rates during mail generation and finishing process. The criteria that the postal rate file (as an information object) should meet are completeness, non-redundancy, consistency and unambiguous interpretation by mailers equipment
32、. In order to meet these criteria it is necessary to make rate information communications and processing computerized and automated, thus achieving ubiquity, consistency, speed and error tolerance typical for internet-based information exchanges. This Technical Specification is an information descri
33、ption and presentation document. It is intended as a powerful and flexible tool capable of supporting both human and machine descriptions of postal rates with arbitrary complexity. In accordance with this Technical Specification, postal rate data files are messages that are structured in accordance
34、with a specialized data representation language named Extensible Common Structure and Representation for Postal Rates (EPR). The EPR is organized as an application-specific version of the XML. It consists of flexible and adaptable constructs (elements) and thus by its very definition is extensible.
35、PD CEN/TS 16735:2015CEN/TS 16735:2015 (E) 6 The EPPML standard (UPU S54-2) only briefly touches postal product prices (postal rates) and their use and communication. It defines rates communication by post and their acquisition by postal customers in a flexible manner leaving all technical details an
36、d structures of rate data outside of its scope. This Technical Specification is aimed at filling this gap. Postal operators, their suppliers, mailing industry and mailing community at large developed many ad hoc rates structures and communication mechanisms designed to work in specific postal enviro
37、nments. In many instances the process of creating, updating and communicating postal rates (tables) is costly and time-consuming while there is a growing need to have fast (e.g. at the speed of the internet) distribution of rates and rate updates from postal operators to their customers (mailers and
38、 in some instances also mail recipients). Traditional methods as they are practiced today by a vast majority of postal operators involve distribution of postal rates to customers via physical documents or electronic documents that are not designed for automated interpretation and processing by compu
39、ters. In case of commercial mailers who mail from tens to millions of mail unit per day this results in a manual process of rate data translation into data structures suitable for computer processing by mail generation and finishing equipment. This process is most frequently performed by trained pro
40、fessionals employed by the mailing industry (typically manufacturers of just mentioned mailing equipment), at a large cost and inconvenience to mailers and postal operators. However, an examination of postal rate data (typically rate tables) and their communication mechanisms as practiced by a major
41、ity of technically advanced postal operators revealed mostly common structure, features and approaches. This suggests that there has to exist a common, flexible and extensible data structure suitable for use as a basis for automated postal rate management and communication in all mailing environment
42、s, from SMEs to large enterprises. Modern general data representation language such as XML can be adapted for the purpose of defining such a structure, which is referred below as the Extensible Common Structure and Representation for Postal Rates or the EPR. This Technical Specification presents det
43、ailed and practical description of the EPR while leaving decisions and implementation of actual postal product pricing (e.g. valuation) to postal operators, their regulators (if any) and the mailing industry. Postal operators and mailing industry can use this Technical Specification, as a guidance d
44、ocument for the development of their own software tools that, when implemented, will allow quick and cost effective postal rate management process. This Technical Specification should be viewed by postal operators, their suppliers and mailing industry at large as a valuable data representation stand
45、ard and a tool that will facilitate all stages of postal rates life-cycle processing and management from creation by postal operators to installation and use in customer mailing equipment and ultimate disposal. “Postal products” are referred to below simply as “products”. The reader is referred to t
46、he UPU S54 standard for detailed discussion and definition of various aspects and attributes of postal products. Postal products are always associated with postal rates, which is a specific established term for postal product prices. When a class of the mail unit (i.e. letter, flat or parcel) is not
47、 mentioned it usually implies any suitable class. This Technical Specification uses the established definition and terminology for the “mail unit” as a physically constrained unit consisting of one or more mail items and/or lower level mail units, together with the means of constraint (as defined in
48、 the UPU Standards glossary). The terms “mailer” and “sender” are used interchangeably. The notion of the postal product is a complex one. Unlike common products (food, clothing, books), that are bought and consumed every day, postal product consumption requires significant cooperation between produ
49、ct producers (postal operators and carriers) and consumers (mailers and recipients). An important part of cooperation involves computation of the rate for a postal product that is to be paid to a postal operator offering this product for sale. This computation is commonly known as a “rating” or “rating process” and most frequently performed during mail unit generation and finishing process that takes place in a mailers environment (this is due to prepayment requirement imposed by majority of postal operators or simply because of a need of the mailer to know the
