The Commercial and Government Entity Code, or CAGE Code, is a

unique identifier A unique identifier (UID) is an identifier that is guaranteed to be unique among all identifiers used for those objects and for a specific purpose. The concept was formalized early in the development of computer science and information systems ...

assigned to suppliers to various government or defense agencies, as well as to government agencies themselves and various organizations. CAGE codes provide a standardized method of identifying a given facility at a specific location. CAGE Codes are used internationally as part of the

NATO Codification System The NATO Codification System (NCS for short) is a Standardization Agreement approach to identify, classify, and number items of supply. This applies to repetitively used items and stocked (e.g., repair parts, equipment, food items, etc.). The S ...

(NCS), where they are sometimes called NCAGE Codes. CAGE codes are referenced in various databases of the NCS, where they are used along with the supplier's part number to form a reference which is held on the

National Stock Number A NATO Stock Number, or National Stock Number (NSN) as it is known in the US, is a 13-digit numeric code used by the NATO military alliance, identifying all the 'standardized material items of supply' as they have been recognized by all member s ...

(NSN) record. This reference enables users of the NCS to determine who supplies any given part. The information associated with the entities - name, address, phone numbers, etc. - is catalogued in the H4 and H8 Handbooks. The National Codification Bureau (NCB) of each NATO or NATO-sponsored Nation is responsible for maintaining the CAGE code information for entities in these respective countries. There are on the order of 3 million entities in this catalog, of which around 2.6 million are US entities. Within the US, any organization wishing to be a supplier to the DoD is issued a CAGE Code by Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS), the organization serving as the US NCB. An entity issued a CAGE code must renew it every five years. CAGE is sometimes expanded as "Commercial Activity/Government Entity", "Contractor And Government Entity", or other, similar variations. However, according to the DLIS website, "Commercial And Government Entity" is the proper term. CAGE was previously known as Federal Supply Code for Manufacturers, or FSCM, which was also the National Supply Code for Manufacturer, or NSCM. On older engineering drawings (pre-1980s) it was labeled simply as "Code Ident No" (Code Identification Number). In the NCS metadata, the CAGE code's Data Record Number (DRN) is 9250 (or 4140 for NSCM); information listed under this DRN identifies very specifically the semantics of CAGE, its syntax, and the procedures associated with it. "Defense Logistics Agency Handbook"

Syntax

CAGE codes are all five characters in length. There is no meaning encoded in the code itself, other than the underlying NCB; it is simply a unique identifier. The Code Chart provided by the NATO AC/135 committee (the group of National Directors on Codification) provides the syntax of CAGE codes in various countries.

References

External links

*
Commercial and Government Entity Program

SAM.gov
( System for Award Management) * * {{cite web, url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44490.pdf, title= Unique Identification Codes for Federal Contractors: DUNS Numbers and CAGE Codes, website=

Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...

NATO standardisation Unique identifiers Company identification numbers

Syntax

See also

References

External links