Digital Product Passport Explained: EU Rules, Scope and Dates

A digital product passport (DPP) is a structured set of product-specific data, linked to a unique product identifier and reached through a data carrier such as a QR code on the product, its packaging or its documentation. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR, Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) sets the general EU framework, and the first mandatory passports are battery passports from 18 February 2027.

What is a digital product passport?

A DPP gives customers, repairers, recyclers and authorities access to defined information about a specific product. Its content is set by the legal act for the product group, and it typically covers identity, composition, substances of concern, environmental performance, compliance documents, and instructions for use, repair and end of life.

Four elements define every passport under ESPR:

• Unique product identifier at model, batch or item level, as set by the delegated act.
• Data carrier, such as a QR code, NFC tag or RFID, physically linked to the product.
• Passport data, hosted by the economic operator or a DPP service provider, with a back-up copy held by a third-party DPP service provider.
• Access rights, separating public information from data reserved for authorities, recyclers or other actors.

Which EU laws require a digital product passport?

Several EU laws now require or enable passports, each with its own scope and timing.

The ESPR working plan of 16 April 2025 lists iron and steel, textiles (starting with apparel), tyres, aluminium, furniture and mattresses as the first product groups. A transition of generally at least 18 months applies after each delegated act. Details are covered in ESPR ecodesign regulation.

What infrastructure is already in place?

The legal and technical foundation for passports was largely completed in July 2026:

1. DPP registry: the Commission launched the registry on 20 July 2026, meeting the ESPR Article 13 deadline of 19 July 2026. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1778 of 16 July 2026, in force since 6 August 2026, sets the registration and access arrangements. The registry stores identifiers and passport locations, not the passport content.
2. Harmonised standards: six CEN and CENELEC standards (EN 18216 and EN 18219 to EN 18223) on data exchange, unique identifiers, data carriers, storage, APIs and interoperability were cited in the Official Journal in July 2026. Two standards on access rights and user verification were still drafts.
3. Customs link: products subject to a passport must be registered so that customs can verify the identifier at import.

No business had to register products on 20 July 2026. Registration obligations arise when a delegated act or the Batteries Regulation makes a passport mandatory.

What does a DPP mean for PIM and product data teams?

A passport is a regulated output that draws on several systems. PLM and compliance tools usually provide composition, substances and test evidence, ERP provides batch and serial data, LCA tools provide footprint values, and PIM provides identity, classification, multilingual texts and links to assets. The design of this flow is described in DPP data architecture, and the engineering side in PLM and ecodesign data.

Data owners should expect three changes:

• Granularity: some passports require batch or item-level data, which most PIM models do not hold today.
• Persistence: passports must stay available for the period set in the legal act, including after a product is discontinued or the operator ceases trading.
• Accountability: published values become regulatory statements, so approval workflows and evidence links are required.

Practical next steps

1. Identify which products fall under the Batteries Regulation, the Toy Safety Regulation or an ESPR working plan group.
2. Agree identifier rules at model, batch and item level, ideally aligned with GS1 identifiers described in GS1 GDSN explained.
3. Map passport content requirements to source systems and assign one owner per attribute.
4. Assess whether to build passport hosting or use a DPP service provider, and test the registry environment.

PIM and PXM platforms with published DPP capabilities are profiled in the vendor directory.