Using the register
The register exists to answer one question: is this organisation a member of the Velocity Interoperability Network, and under what key does it exchange? Most people who come to this site come to answer that question about a particular organisation, on a particular day, before doing something that depends on the answer. This page explains how to do so, how to read what you find, and how far you may rely on it.
Anyone may consult the register. It is published in full on this site, without charge and without registration, and it is amended on the day a listing is made or changed. No account is needed and no request need be made to the Registry: the answer is on the page.
The register is used in two ways. A person may read it, before entering into an arrangement with an organisation or when a question arises about one. A system may check it, before accepting an exchange that carries a key. The rules are the same in both cases, and the most important of them is that the register speaks as at the day it is read.
Checking whether an organisation is a member
Step 1: Find the organisation by name
Open the register and look for the organisation under its full legal name, not under a trading name or an abbreviation. The register lists organisations in order of listing, and the whole register is published on one page so that it can be searched in the browser.
Step 2: Read the status
Only the status Active means that the organisation may exchange on the Network today. A status of Suspended means that the listing stands but exchange is not permitted; Removed means the organisation is no longer a member. An organisation that does not appear at all is not a member and never has been.
Step 3: Check the key
Compare the key shown against the key your counterpart has given you. They must match exactly, character for character. A key that differs by so much as a hyphen is a different key, and may belong to another organisation or to none.
Step 4: Note the certificate and the date
Record the certificate number and the date of certification with the result of your check. If a question arises later about whether the organisation was a member at a particular moment, these are the particulars the Registry will ask you for.
Step 5: Trace the decision if you need to
Every entry was made by a numbered notice. If you need to know why an entry stands as it does, find the notice on the Notices page: it gives the kind of decision, its date and its subject.
How to read an entry
| Field | What it records | What you may infer |
|---|---|---|
| Organisation | The full legal name of the organisation as it appears in the instrument constituting it. | That this name, and no other, is the name of the member. Trading names are not recorded. |
| Key | The short name under which the organisation exchanges on the Network, reserved to it while it is listed. | That an exchange carrying this key was made by this organisation, or by someone it permitted to use the key. |
| Certificate | The number of the certificate of interoperability on which the listing rests. | That an assessment was completed and a certificate issued. The number identifies the certificate, not the systems covered by it. |
| Certified since | The date on which the certificate was issued and the listing took effect. | That the organisation has been a member from that date. It says nothing about any earlier period. |
| Status | Active, Suspended or Removed, as at the moment the page was published. | That the organisation may exchange today, may not exchange today, or is no longer a member. |
How far a listing may be relied upon
- You may rely on a listing without further enquiry
- A member that checks the register and finds an organisation listed as Active may exchange with it on the strength of that entry alone. It need not ask the Registry to confirm the entry, ask the organisation for its certificate, or make any enquiry of its own into the organisation's systems.
- A listing speaks only as at the day it is read
- The register records the position on the day it is consulted. A check made last month is not evidence of membership today. Where an exchange is made on a recurring basis, the check should be made afresh, and systems that verify keys automatically should do so at least once a day.
- A listing is not a warranty of performance
- Certification means that the organisation's systems met the standards when they were assessed and that the organisation undertook to keep them so. It is not a promise by the Registry that a system will be available, that an exchange will succeed, or that the organisation will honour a commercial arrangement.
- Nothing outside the register counts
- A certificate shown to you by an organisation, a claim on its own website, or an assurance from a third party is not evidence of membership. If the organisation is not listed on this site with the status Active, it is not a member, whatever it may hold or claim.
- The published register is the authoritative version
- There is no printed edition and no other copy of record. A cached copy, an extract taken earlier, or a list maintained by a member for its own convenience has no standing against the register as published here.
One record, publicly kept
A register is only useful if everybody consults the same one. The Registry therefore keeps a single record, publishes it in one place, amends it on the day a decision is made, and recognises no other copy as authoritative. That is the whole of its method, and everything else on this site follows from it.
It also means the Registry must be told when something is wrong. An entry that is out of date, a name that has changed, a key that no longer matches: each of these is worth an email, and each is put right by a notice.
The day a change takes effect
The decision
The Registrar decides
A decision to list, suspend, restore or remove is taken by the Registrar or by an officer authorised in writing, on the papers before them.
Within the hour
The notice is drawn and numbered
The decision is recorded in a notice, which takes the next number in the year's series. The notice states the kind of decision, the entry affected and the date from which the change takes effect.
The same day
The register is amended and published
The entry is amended, the notice is published on this site, and the change takes effect. From that moment the register shows the new position and may be relied upon accordingly.
The same day
The organisation and the circulation are told
The notice is sent by email to the point of contact of the organisation concerned and to anyone who has asked to receive notices. This is a courtesy; publication is what gives the notice effect.
By the close of the day
A copy is deposited with the Ministry
A copy of each register as it then stands is deposited with the Ministry of the Velocity Interoperability Network, as it is at the close of every working day.
The following working day
Members reconcile
Members whose systems check keys against a local copy of the register refresh it. A member that has not refreshed is nonetheless bound by the register as published.
Common situations
Keeping in step with the register
A member whose systems verify keys should refresh its copy of the register at least once each working day, and should treat a key that has ceased to be Active as refused from the moment the refresh is made. The Registry publishes every change as a numbered notice on the day it is made, so a member that follows the notices will never be more than a day behind. Anyone may ask to receive notices by email; write to contact@registry.gov.vin with the address to be used.
For what the registers contain and how they relate to one another, see Registers. For the rules that govern keys, see Keys. For short answers to the questions most often asked, see Questions and answers.