Sweden public sector progressively phasing EDIFACT out

This decision was made by the Single Face To Industry (SFTI) Steering Group, which resolved to withdraw the SFTI ESAP 6 standard (an EDIFACT-based standard for purchase orders) from its list of recommendations as of July 1, 2025.

The SFTI initiative aims to promote the adoption of e-commerce and e-procurement standards within the public sector. It gathers numerous stakeholders, ranging from IT service providers, suppliers, to the following public entities:

• The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKR)
• The Agency for Digital Government (Digg)
• The National Agency for Public Procurement (Kammarkollegiet)
• The Swedish Public Procurement Agency

SFTI has long discouraged the use of the EDIFACT standard for new implementations or procurements. Organizations yet to implement e-commerce are instead advised to adopt XML-based messaging using the Peppol BIS standard.

As part of the transition from EDIFACT to Peppol BIS, SFTI has established workgroups for the public sector, publishing their findings as guidelines. Additionally, it has commissioned the development of a free tool to convert catalogs from Excel to Peppol BIS format.

This decision will affect both the Swedish public and private sectors, aiming to improve business efficiency by promoting network-based solutions instead of point-to-point connections. As more governments adopt e-invoicing and e-reporting mandates using 4- or 5-corner networks like Peppol, this approach is gaining momentum.