What is a Digital Product Passport?
A Digital Product Passport (DPP) is a structured, machine-readable digital record that holds key information about a physical product across its whole life: what it’s made of, where and how it was made, its environmental footprint, how to repair or recycle it, and its compliance status.
It is the European Union’s core tool for making supply chains transparent and driving a circular economy. Anyone with permission — a buyer, a customs officer, a repairer, a recycler or a shopper — can open it by scanning the product.
The three parts of every passport
- A unique product identifier (UID) — a code that uniquely identifies the model, batch or individual item, such as a GS1 GTIN plus serial number, or a decentralized identifier.
- A data carrier — a physical tag on the product, usually a QR code or Data Matrix and sometimes an NFC or RFID chip, that a phone or scanner reads to open the passport.
- The data record — hosted online, often across distributed repositories, showing different information to different users: full detail for regulators and recyclers, a simpler view for consumers.
What data a passport contains: five layers
The exact fields are set for each product category by EU “delegated acts”, but the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation defines a common baseline organised into roughly five layers.
| Layer | Typical contents |
|---|---|
| 1. Product identity | Unique product identifier (e.g. GTIN + serial), product name, model, batch or lot, manufacturer and brand, EU Declaration of Conformity |
| 2. Material composition | Materials by weight %, substances of concern (REACH SVHCs), recycled content, raw-material origin and responsible sourcing |
| 3. Performance & sustainability | Carbon footprint, energy efficiency, durability, repairability score, water and emissions data |
| 4. Repair & end-of-life | Spare parts, disassembly and repair instructions, recycling and end-of-life guidance |
| 5. Compliance & ownership | Certificates, conformity documentation and, for durable resold goods, ownership and transfer records |
The laws behind it
Two EU regulations create passport obligations:
- ESPR — Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (EU) 2024/1781. The umbrella framework that introduces passports for most product groups, switched on sector by sector through delegated acts under the ESPR Working Plan 2025–2030.
- Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542. A separate, earlier law that makes the battery passport mandatory from 18 February 2027.
There is no exemption for small and medium-sized businesses under ESPR. If your product falls into a covered group and is sold in the EU, it needs a passport.
Timeline by sector
Almost all physical products will eventually be covered. These are the confirmed early groups.
| Sector / product group | Legal basis | Indicative timing |
|---|---|---|
| Batteries (EV, LMT, industrial >2 kWh) | Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 | Passport mandatory 18 Feb 2027 |
| Iron & steel (intermediate) | ESPR delegated act | Adoption indicatively 2026 |
| Textiles & apparel (footwear under study) | ESPR delegated act | Act ~2026–2027; enforcement ~2028 |
| Tyres | ESPR delegated act | ~2027 |
| Aluminium (intermediate) | ESPR delegated act | ~2027 |
| Furniture & mattresses | ESPR delegated act | Adoption ~2028 |
| Electronics / ICT (energy-related) | ESPR / Ecodesign | Ongoing under the Ecodesign framework |
| Chemicals, construction products, detergents, paints and more | ESPR (mid-term review 2028) | Post-2028, to be prioritised |
Getting DPP-ready typically takes 18–36 months, mostly because of supplier data. Check your own deadline.
Who must comply
Any economic operator placing a product on the EU market must comply: EU manufacturers, non-EU manufacturers exporting to the EU, EU importers and distributors.
Crucially, an EU importer or authorised representative may hold the formal legal obligation, but the practical burden — producing the passport data, the technical file and the conformity evidence — falls on the manufacturer. For exporters in India and across Asia, that means EU rules apply to your products regardless of your home country’s law.
The exporter compliance checklist
What a non-EU manufacturer needs in place to keep selling a covered product into the EU:
| Requirement | What it means |
|---|---|
| EU Authorised Representative | An EU-based representative appointed to act on the manufacturer’s behalf and interface with authorities |
| Technical documentation | A technical file evidencing that the product meets ecodesign requirements — materials, tests, calculations |
| EU Declaration of Conformity | A signed declaration that the product conforms to applicable EU law |
| CE marking / conformity assessment | Where the product group requires it, conformity assessment and CE marking before market placement |
| The DPP itself | A unique product identifier + data carrier (QR, Data Matrix or RFID) + the data record required by the sector’s delegated act |
| EU DPP registry entry | Unique identifiers registered in the Commission’s central registry so authorities can access passports |
| Sector-specific evidence | Batteries: due-diligence and carbon-footprint declarations. Textiles: fibre composition, REACH/SVHC chemical compliance, certifications such as OEKO-TEX or GOTS where used |
Is a DPP a certificate you buy?
No. A passport is a self-declared compliance record, backed by a technical file and, where required, a conformity assessment. You don’t buy a “DPP licence”.
The related certificates and documents are the EU Declaration of Conformity, CE marking where applicable, and product-specific proofs — REACH/SVHC compliance, battery due diligence, textile eco-labels. A DPP platform’s job is to collect, structure and prove that data.
The technical standards
In 2026, the European standards committee CEN-CENELEC JTC 24 finalised the EN 1821x series — eight European standards defining how every passport is identified, carried, exchanged, stored, secured and authenticated. The most important for most businesses:
- EN 18219 — unique identifiers. Permitted schemes include GS1 Digital Link, IEC 61406 links, W3C decentralized identifiers, RFID/2D IDs and DOIs; operator IDs include the GLEIF LEI.
- EN 18220 — data carriers: QR, Data Matrix and RFID (NFC, UHF/RAIN), including placement, marking and quality.
- GS1 Digital Link + GTIN — a recognised identifier pattern where a QR code resolves to the passport record.
- ISO/IEC 15459 — the unique-identifier standard referenced by the Battery Regulation.
- W3C Verifiable Credentials — cryptographic, tamper-evident proof that data is authentic.
- EPCIS 2.0 (ISO/IEC 19987) — vendor-neutral supply-chain event data for traceability.
Choosing a provider that builds to these standards keeps your passports valid and portable, and protects you from lock-in. See how zevoyt implements them.
The India angle
No research firm publishes a standalone India DPP market figure yet, but the direction is clear:
- Battery passport. India is introducing a QR-based battery passport — dubbed the “Aadhaar for EV batteries” — giving every EV battery a unique 21-character ID and a QR code storing origin, composition, carbon footprint, performance and recycling data. It is being developed by NITI Aayog with the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.
- Standards activity. The Bureau of Indian Standards is examining DPPs for electronics and food-safety compliance.
- Export pull. Indian manufacturers exporting to the EU must meet EU passport rules regardless of domestic law — the biggest near-term driver for Indian textiles, leather, chemicals, batteries and electronics.
Frequently asked questions
Does every single item need its own passport?
It depends on the product group. Delegated acts specify whether passports apply at model, batch or individual-item level. Batteries, for example, need item-level passports.
Where must passport data be hosted?
Passport data should be hosted in the EU or a GDPR-adequate jurisdiction, remain available for the product’s full life plus a post-end-of-life period, and be accessible to market-surveillance authorities.
What happens if I’m not ready?
Products without a required passport cannot legally be placed on the EU market. In practice, EU buyers will source from suppliers who can provide complete data.
Is this the same as a sustainability report?
No. A sustainability report describes your company. A passport describes an individual product — and travels with it through its whole life.