UN Economic Commission for Europe updates trade codes to support alternative Gulf trade routes

The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) announced Wednesday updates to its global trade and transport coding system aimed at strengthening supply chain resilience in the Gulf region amid ongoing geopolitical tensions around the Strait of Hormuz.

UNECE said it issued three new entries and updated 10 existing entries under its UN Code for Trade and Transport Locations system, known as UN/LOCODE, across the United Arab Emirates.

The system provides standardized geographic codes used globally to identify trade and transport locations, covering more than 114,000 sites across 249 countries and territories.

According to UNECE, the new and updated entries include inland logistics hubs such as Al Fayah, Al Sajaa and Al Ain, alongside strategic logistics corridors in Abu Dhabi linked to rail terminals, dry ports and industrial storage facilities.

UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean said the accelerated updates demonstrate how UN standards can support international crisis-response efforts.

“UN/LOCODE and the TIR Convention are global public goods fostering the stability of global commerce and international supply chains,” Molcean said in a statement.

She added that the measures are intended to help maintain transport and logistics operations despite disruptions affecting the Strait of Hormuz and the wider region.

UNECE said the updated codes would support broader UN efforts to strengthen inland logistics and multimodal transport corridors linking industrial and storage hubs in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai to export gateways such as the ports of Fujairah and Jeddah.

The agency said those routes are becoming increasingly important alternatives to traditional maritime pathways through the Strait of Hormuz.