# BT-161 Item Country of Origin

The country of origin for the item.

## Quick answer

The country of origin for the item.

> **Line items**: The goods or services on each invoice line, including quantities, prices, and VAT.

- validate
- convert

## In plain language

The country of origin for the item.

The country of origin for the item.

Identifies the invoiced goods or services for buyer, seller, and automated procurement or inventory matching.

## What you usually enter here

ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code

Typical valid values include: DE, FR, IT

Defined by EN 16931 for invoice line item identification; mandatory item names and optional identifiers must follow the listed scheme and country code rules.

## What goes wrong often

Avoid values like: Germany, DEU

Relevant rule codes: BR-CL-14

## Examples in context

Identifies the invoiced goods or services for buyer, seller, and automated procurement or inventory matching.

Defined by EN 16931 for invoice line item identification; mandatory item names and optional identifiers must follow the listed scheme and country code rules.

## Valid Examples

- DE
- FR
- IT

## Invalid Examples

- Germany
- DEU

## Related Fields

Identifies the invoiced goods or services for buyer, seller, and automated procurement or inventory matching.

- [BT-153 Invoice Line Item Name](/resources/xrechnung/bt-153-invoice-line-item-name)

## XML mapping and field facts

Open the technical reference if you need XML paths, validator rule codes, legal wording, or schema-specific mapping details.

### Field ID:
BT-161

### Data Type:
code

### Cardinality:
0..1

### Requirement:
Optional

### Since Version:
Optional

## XML Implementation

### UBL 2.1 Syntax
```
/Invoice/cac:InvoiceLine/cac:Item/cac:OriginCountry/cbc:IdentificationCode
```

## Validation Rules

### BR-CL-14
BR-CL-14

## Why the standard cares about this field

### Business Context
Identifies the invoiced goods or services for buyer, seller, and automated procurement or inventory matching.

### Legal Requirement
Defined by EN 16931 for invoice line item identification; mandatory item names and optional identifiers must follow the listed scheme and country code rules.

## Official sources and tools

- [KoSIT Validator](https://erechnungsvalidator.service-bw.de/)
- [Invoice Converter](/pdf-to-xrechnung)
- [XRechnung Standard](https://xeinkauf.de/xrechnung/)
- [Test Suite](https://github.com/itplr-kosit/xrechnung-testsuite)