The Central Product Classification (CPC) is a product classification for goods and services promulgated by the United Nations Statistical Commission. It is intended to be an international standard for organizing and analyzing data on industrial production, national accounts, trade, prices and so on. The European Union's Classification of Products by Activity (CPA) is based on CPC.

The Classification of types of construction (CC), is a nomenclature for the classification of constructions (i.e. buildings) according to their type. It is based on the CPC that was published by the United Nations in 1991. Its final version was approved in 1997. The decimal system classification - each type is qualified by a four-digit number - comprises: 2 Sections (1-digit) - Buildings, Civil engineering works 6 Divisions (2-digit) 20 Groups (3-digit) 46 Classes (4-digit) The CC is a "standard that must be taken into account in recording, collecting, processing, analysing, transmitting and disseminating data on construction works for statistical and record-keeping purposes" in various European countries and Eurostat.

Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987, creates the goods nomenclature called the Combined Nomenclature, or in abbreviated form 'CN', established to meet, at one and the same time, the requirements both of the Common Customs Tariff and of the external trade statistics of the European Union. The codes and the descriptions of goods established on the basis of the combined nomenclature shall replace those established on the basis of the nomenclatures of the Common Customs Tariff and the Nimexe. It is established on the basis of the Harmonized System. The combined nomenclature shall comprise : (a) the harmonized system nomenclature; (b) Community subdivisions to that nomenclature, referred to as 'CN subheadings' in those cases where a corresponding rate of duty is specified; (c) preliminary provisions, additional section or chapter notes and footnotes relating to CN subheadings. Each CN subheading shall have an eight digit code number : (a) the first six digits shall be the code numbers relating to the headings and subheadings of the harmonized system nomenclature; (b) the seventh and eighth digits shall identify the CN subheadings The Commission established an integrated tariff, of the European Communities, referred to as the 'TARIC code', based on the combined nomenclature. The combined nomenclature, together with the rates of duty and other relevant charges, and the tariff measures included in the Taric or in other Community arrangements shall constitute the common customs tariff referred to in Article 9 of the Treaty, which shall be applied on the importation of goods into the Community Member States may insert subdivisions after the CN subheadings for national statistical purposes, and after the Taric subheadings for other national purposes. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee on Tariff and Statistical Nomenclature, called the 'Nomenclature Committee'. 'Favourable tariff arrangement' means any reduction or suspension, even under a tariff quota, of a customs duty or charge having equivalent effect or of an agricultural levy or other import charge provided for under the common agricultural policy or under the specific arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting form the processing of agricultural products. Commission shall adopt each year by means of a Regulation a complete version of the combined nomenclature together with the corresponding autonomous and conventional rates of duty of the Common Customs Tariff, as it results from measures adopted by the Council or by the Commission. said Regulation shall be published not later than 31 October in the Official Journal of the European Communities and it shall apply from 1 January of the following year.

A common external tariff must be introduced when a group of countries forms a customs union. The same customs duties, import quotas, preferences or other non-tariff barriers to trade apply to all goods entering the area, regardless of which country within the area they are entering. It is designed to end re-exportation; but it may also inhibit imports from countries outside the customs union and thereby diminish consumer choice and support protectionism of industries based within the customs union. The common external tariff is a mild form of economic union but may lead to further types of economic integration. In addition to having the same customs duties, the countries may have other common trade policies, such as having the same quotas, preferences or other non-tariff trade regulations apply to all goods entering the area, regardless of which country, within the area, they are entering. Important examples of common external tariff are that of the Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Paraguay and Uruguay), the Common Customs Tariff of the Eurasian Economic Community customs union as well as the European Union Customs Union.

Engineering is the application of knowledge in the form of science, mathematics, and empirical evidence, to the innovation, design, construction, operation and maintenance of structures, machines, materials, software, devices, systems, processes, and organizations. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more specialized fields of engineering, each with a more specific emphasis on particular areas of applied mathematics, applied science, and types of application. See glossary of engineering. The term engineering is derived from the Latin ingenium, meaning "cleverness" and ingeniare, meaning "to contrive, devise".

ETIM Deutschland e. V. (ElektroTechnisches InformationsModell, or electro-technical information model) is an initiative to standardize the electronic exchange of product data for electrical and electronic products (electrical installation products, home appliances and consumer electronics) to enable the electronic trading of these products. The standard is designed to meet the requirements of the electrical industry and allows for the uniform, technical description of electrical goods and their assignment to a class of products.

Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The term "freedom of expression" is sometimes used synonymously but includes any act of seeking, receiving, and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. Freedom of expression is recognized as a human right under article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and recognized in international human rights law in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article 19 of the UDHR states that "everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference" and "everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice". The version of Article 19 in the ICCPR later amends this by stating that the exercise of these rights carries "special duties and responsibilities" and may "therefore be subject to certain restrictions" when necessary "[f]or respect of the rights or reputation of others" or "[f]or the protection of national security or of public order (order public), or of public health or morals".Freedom of speech and expression, therefore, may not be recognized as being absolute, and common limitations or boundaries to freedom of speech relate to libel, slander, obscenity, pornography, sedition, incitement, fighting words, classified information, copyright violation, trade secrets, food labeling, non-disclosure agreements, the right to privacy, the right to be forgotten, public security, and perjury. Justifications for such include the harm principle, proposed by John Stuart Mill in On Liberty, which suggests that: "the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others."The idea of the "offense principle" is also used in the justification of speech limitations, describing the restriction on forms of expression deemed offensive to society, considering factors such as extent, duration, motives of the speaker, and ease with which it could be avoided. With the evolution of the digital age, application of the freedom of speech becomes more controversial as new means of communication and restrictions arise, for example the Golden Shield Project, an initiative by Chinese government's Ministry of Public Security that filters potentially unfavourable data from foreign countries.

Global Classification is the process of classifying products for the purpose of complying with customs authorities, qualifying for free trade agreements and filing entries to customs during the importation or exportation of those products. A slight difference in classification can mean a huge difference in the duties that are paid. Classification data includes: Harmonized Schedule Numbers Special tariff preference programs Product descriptions and pictures Schematics Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) documentation Country of Origin credentials Value Information With the growing complexity of supply chains as well as the increasing number of government regulations around importing and exporting, companies are realizing the need to proactively manage trade compliance data in order to minimize risk, such as the inaccurate classification of data. Providing classification data on imported and exported products is required, regardless of an organization's global location and classifying products is typically a manual and time-consuming process. Companies need to establish data management standards to help reduce inaccurate classification, strengthen the exchange of data between trading partners, and provide version control in order to track all changes that take place.

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, also known as the Harmonized System (HS) of tariff nomenclature is an internationally standardized system of names and numbers to classify traded products. It came into effect in 1988 and has since been developed and maintained by the World Customs Organization (WCO) (formerly the Customs Co-operation Council), an independent intergovernmental organization based in Brussels, Belgium, with over 200 member countries.

The International Article Number (also known as European Article Number or EAN) is a standard describing a barcode symbology and numbering system used in global trade to identify a specific retail product type, in a specific packaging configuration, from a specific manufacturer. The standard has been subsumed in the Global Trade Item Number standard from the GS1 organization; the same numbers can be referred to as GTINs and can be encoded in other barcode symbologies defined by GS1. EAN barcodes are used worldwide for lookup at retail point of sale, but can also be used as numbers for other purposes such as wholesale ordering or accounting. The most commonly used EAN standard is the thirteen-digit EAN-13, a superset of the original 12-digit Universal Product Code (UPC-A) standard developed in 1970 by George J. Laurer. An EAN-13 number includes a 3-digit GS1 prefix (indicating country of registration or special type of product). A prefix with a first digit of "0" indicates a 12-digit UPC-A code follows. A prefix with the first two digits of "45" or "49" indicates a Japanese Article Number (JAN) follows. The less commonly used 8-digit EAN-8 barcode was introduced for use on small packages, where EAN-13 would be too large. 2-digit EAN-2 and 5-digit EAN-5 are supplemental barcodes, placed on the right-hand side of EAN-13 or UPC. These are generally used for periodicals like magazines or books, to indicate the current year's issue number; and weighed products like food, to indicate the manufacturer's suggested retail price.