The Digital Product Passport (DPP) is the tool with which the European Union wants every product to carry its own information on origin, composition, reparability, recyclability and compliance, accessible from a label using a mobile phone. It is created by Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), in force since 18 July 2024, and it is no longer theory: the European Commission’s central registry is planned for 19 July 2026, the first mandatory passport, the one for batteries, arrives on 18 February 2027, and the delegated acts for the first industrial groups (iron and steel, textiles, tyres, aluminium, furniture, mattresses) are expected between 2026 and 2029. This guide explains, as at 16 September 2026, exactly what the passport is, what data it will carry, who supplies that data along the chain, what the timeline is and why an industrial company that already works with NFC traceability at batch or item level is halfway there.
What is the Digital Product Passport?
The ESPR replaces the 2009 Ecodesign Directive and extends its scope from energy-related products to almost all physical goods. Its information tool is the digital passport: a set of data specific to each product (or to each batch or model, depending on what the delegated act for the group lays down), accessible electronically through a physical data carrier on the product, its packaging or its documentation. The regulation lays down its elements:
- A unique product identifier and, where applicable, unique identifiers for the operator and the facility.
- A data carrier (QR code, NFC tag, RFID or other) that links to the passport, affixed so that it is legible and durable.
- Decentralised data: the information is held not by the Commission but by the party responsible for the product or by a passport service provider, with availability guaranteed throughout the life of the product and beyond.
- A central registry run by the Commission, which stores the unique identifiers and the links to each passport, and allows customs and market surveillance authorities to check that a product has one.
- Access rights by profile: consumers, repairers, recyclers, authorities and customs see different layers of information.
- Interoperability: common technical standards so that any reader and any system can understand any passport.
What data it will carry
The exact content is set by the delegated act for each product group, but the regulation marks out the categories: durability, reparability and availability of spare parts; recycled content; substances of concern; environmental and carbon footprint; instructions for use, maintenance and disassembly; conformity documentation and certificates; information on the manufacturer, the importer and the supply chain; and, where the act so requires, information at batch or item level on origin and process. In other words, much of what an industrial traceability system already records, arranged so that it can be made public in layers.
Timeline as at 16 September 2026
| Milestone | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 in force | 18 Jul 2024 | In force |
| Ecodesign working plan 2025–2030 (priority groups) | Adopted in 2025 | Current: iron and steel, aluminium, textiles, furniture, tyres, mattresses and horizontal requirements on reparability and recycled content |
| Central digital passport registry operational | 19 Jul 2026 | Announced by the Commission |
| Battery passport (Regulation (EU) 2023/1542) | 18 Feb 2027 | First mandatory passport |
| Delegated acts for iron and steel | Expected in 2026 | Awaiting adoption; enforceable about 18 months later |
| Delegated acts for textiles, tyres and subsequent groups | Expected in 2027 and the following years | Pending |
The dates of the delegated acts are Commission forecasts and may move; what does not move is the architecture (identifier, carrier, decentralised data, registry), which is already fixed in the regulation and which a manufacturer can start complying with without waiting for its own act.
Who supplies each piece of data along the chain
The passport is published by the economic operator that places the product on the market (manufacturer or importer), but its data comes from the whole chain: the raw material supplier provides the recycled content and the substances; the subcontractor, the process; the plant, the batch and the conformity; logistics, the chain of custody; and later the repairer and the recycler add events at the end of the product’s life. That means the data has to be captured where it arises, with an identifier that ties it together, and not reconstructed by hand at the end. It is exactly the problem that a batch-level or item-level traceability system solves.
Why NFC traceability is the foundation
An NFC tag per batch or per item does three things the passport needs:
- It uniquely identifies each physical object and ties it to its data from the factory onwards, with an identifier that can be the same one the passport will require.
- It records events at each step (production, quality control, dispatch, installation, maintenance) with the date, the place and the person responsible, which is the origin and process data the delegated act will ask for.
- It can be read with a mobile phone, with no dedicated app in most cases, which makes the tag the passport’s data carrier and the gateway for the customer, the repairer or the authority.
A QR code performs the same linking function, but an NFC tag stands up better to abrasion, paint and dirt in industrial environments and can be protected against copying, which matters when the passport is also used against counterfeiting. We explain how traceability of this kind works and how it integrates with the management system in NFC traceability: what it is and how it integrates.
A preparation plan for an industrial company
- Identify your product group in the 2025–2030 working plan and follow the status of its delegated act.
- Take stock of the data you already have: composition, suppliers, certificates, tests, recycled content, processes by batch, conformity documentation.
- Define the unique identifier per batch or per item and the carrier (NFC, QR) compatible with whatever the act lays down.
- Capture events at source: production, quality, dispatch, with the identifier, and ask suppliers for their data in a structured format.
- Design the access layers: what the public sees, what the business customer sees, what the authority sees.
- Host the passport on your own system or a provider’s, with guaranteed long-term availability and a backup copy.
- Prepare the connection to the central registry and to customs, in line with the technical specifications the Commission publishes.
- Make the most of the passport as a selling point: public buyers and large companies are already asking for it in their sustainability criteria.
How it relates to other data legislation
The passport sits alongside the Data Act (Regulation (EU) 2023/2854), which requires connected products to give access to their usage data, and alongside the sector-specific traceability requirements that already exist. The passport looks to sustainability and the life cycle; the Data Act, to the data the product generates in operation, as we explain in the Data Act and IoT sensing. A single traceability system can feed both.
How CEDESA does it
CEDESA develops NFC traceability systems integrated with the ERP and with production for industrial and agri-food companies: an identifier per batch or per item, a record of events at every step and look-up from a mobile phone. For the digital passport, the work consists of giving that data the structure of the delegated act for the product group, adding the access layers and preparing the connection to the central registry. With ISO 27001, ISO 9001 and ISO 56001 certification, that development follows a documented cycle, something market surveillance authorities will be able to ask for when they check a passport.
Frequently asked questions about the Digital Product Passport
What is the Digital Product Passport?
A set of data specific to each product, batch or model, required by Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 on ecodesign, accessible electronically through a data carrier (QR code, NFC or RFID) placed on the product, its packaging or its documentation, with a unique identifier recorded in a central registry run by the European Commission and with profile-based access.
When does the Digital Product Passport become mandatory?
It depends on the product group. The first is the battery passport, mandatory from 18 February 2027 under Regulation (EU) 2023/1542. For the ESPR groups (iron and steel, aluminium, textiles, tyres, furniture, mattresses), the obligation arrives with each delegated act, expected from 2026 onwards, and usually becomes enforceable about 18 months after the act is adopted. The central registry is planned for 19 July 2026.
What data does the Digital Product Passport include?
Whatever the delegated act for each group lays down within the regulation’s categories: durability and reparability, recycled content, substances of concern, environmental footprint, instructions for use and disassembly, conformity documentation, information on the manufacturer and the supply chain and, where required, origin and process data by batch or item.
Can an NFC tag serve as the data carrier for the digital passport?
Yes. The regulation allows QR codes, NFC tags, RFID or other data carriers that link to the passport and are legible and durable. NFC brings robustness in industrial environments, protection against copying and direct reading with a mobile phone.
Who is responsible for publishing the passport?
The economic operator that places the product on the Union market, whether manufacturer or importer, which must guarantee its availability throughout the life of the product; the data, however, comes from the whole supply chain, so it has to be captured at source with a common identifier.
Conclusion
The Digital Product Passport now has an architecture, a registry and a first date, and the delegated acts for the industrial groups are on their way. What will decide whether a company is ready in time is not the act, but whether its composition, process and conformity data is captured by batch or by item with a unique identifier, which is what well-executed NFC traceability delivers today. If you want to know how far your current traceability is from the passport for your group, tell us what you make and what you record.