What is a Digital Product Passport, and why?

I'm Daniel Carlman. I run DPP Agent, and this is DPP Academy.

A digital product passport is a set of data about one product. You reach it by scanning a code on the product, its packaging, or the documents that come with it.

The rules come from the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, ESPR, which entered into force in July 2024.

Where a passport is required, a product can only be placed on the market if its passport is available. And the data must be accurate, complete and up to date.

Why? So that everyone along the value chain can find and understand the information that matters to them. So that authorities can check compliance. And so that products can be traced.

What goes into a passport is decided product group by product group, in delegated acts: the data, the type of code, model, batch or item level, who may see what, and how long it stays available.

Some things apply to every passport. It is linked through a data carrier to a persistent, unique product identifier. And the data is based on open standards: machine-readable, and transferable without vendor lock-in.

A passport may not contain customers' personal data, unless they have explicitly agreed.

The Commission sets up a registry that stores at least the unique identifiers. The company placing the product on the market uploads them.

So, in short: one product, one code, one set of data. Kept up to date, for at least the product’s expected lifetime.

I'm Daniel. See you in episode two.

Next time: who it applies to, and when. This is not legal advice.