28 March 2006
Jersey is a small self-governing territory – and that fact will soon be officially published on the worldwide web!
The difference will come for most Jersey residents when they have to select a country of residence when making a booking or placing an order on the internet. Currently, they have to trawl through hundreds of countries before selecting ‘United Kingdom’ – something which is incorrect but the nearest thing to the truth existing in the list of territories available. In future, Jersey will be listed between Japan and Jordan and recognised as a self-governing jurisdiction.
This has been achieved after prolonged discussions about country codes between the Chief Minister’s Department, the other British Crown Dependencies and with the full support of the UK government’s Department of Trade and Industry. This is the 'primary country code' list approved by the International Standards Organisation - which designates the codes to be used to signify each of the separate countries of the world.
Until now Jersey and the other Crown Dependencies (Guernsey and the Isle of Man) have not had separate ISO primary country code designations.
Chief Minister, Senator Frank Walker said: “This is good news for Jersey, because it is a very tangible sign that we are raising our international profile. The current situation is clearly unsatisfactory for anyone who uses the internet to order goods or services, because Jersey residents have been unable to show that they should not be charged VAT. We expect that computer software developers (including Microsoft) and those using business software applications will increasingly use this code to designate Jersey as a separate territory from the UK.”
Senator Walker added: “This successful joint bid, by the three Crown Dependencies working in close collaboration, with the strong support of the UK, including Department for Trade and Industry and the British Standards Institution, shows the value of strong international relationships and how we can develop our independent profile through working in this way.”
gov.je