What it means
The rule looks at the item on every invoice line (or credit note line) in a UBL file. It warns when the item's country of origin (cac:OriginCountry) contains a cbc:Name. EN 16931 represents the item country of origin (BT-159) as an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code, such as DE or NL, in cbc:IdentificationCode. This rule does not check whether that code is present or valid.
Why it matters
EN 16931 does not use a written-out country name within the item's country of origin.
How to fix it
Check the export mapping for the product's country of origin in your invoicing software. If you include the origin, export the two-letter country code rather than the name. If you build the XML yourself, delete cbc:Name from cac:OriginCountry under cac:InvoiceLine/cac:Item (cac:CreditNoteLine in a credit note), keeping cbc:IdentificationCode if supplied.
Once the file is corrected, check it again for free: Validate an invoice against EN 16931
Or fix the invoice in a form and download the corrected file, for 1 credit: Fix a rejected e-invoice
The rule as published
A UBL invoice should not include the InvoiceLine Item OriginCountry Name Where this rule applies
| Rule set | Version |
|---|---|
| EN 16931 (UBL) | 1.3.17 |
| EN 16931 (UBL credit note) | 1.3.17 |
| XRechnung 3.0 (UBL) | 3.0.2 |
| XRechnung 3.0 (UBL credit note) | 3.0.2 |
| Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (invoice) | 2026.5 |
| Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (credit note) | 2026.5 |
| SI-UBL 2.0 / NLCIUS (invoice) | 2.0.3.13 |
| SI-UBL 2.0 / NLCIUS (credit note) | 2.0.3.13 |
| France CTC (UBL invoice) | 1.4.0-04 |
| France CTC (UBL credit note) | 1.4.0-04 |
| CIUS-RO UBL Invoice 1.0.9 | 1.0.9 |
| CIUS-RO UBL Credit Note 1.0.9 | 1.0.9 |
Check your file
Drop your e-invoice to see whether UBL-CR-591 still fails, and which other rules do.
Related rules
- UBL-CR-592 Commodity nature codes are not used on invoice lines
- UBL-CR-593 Commodity cargo type codes are not used on invoice lines
- UBL-CR-594 Commodity codes should use the item classification code
- UBL-CR-595 Transaction conditions are not used on invoice lines
- UBL-CR-596 Hazardous item details are not used on invoice lines
- UBL-CR-597 A line's VAT category should not carry a name