EU Digital Product Passport: What Sellers Need to Know

The European Union is introducing a Digital Product Passport (DPP): a digital identity card for products that stores information about materials, sustainability, repair and compliance. Scanning a data carrier on the product – such as a QR code – opens the passport. If you make, import or sell products in the EU, or export to it, here is what you need to know as of October 2026.

What is the Digital Product Passport?

• Legal basis: the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), Regulation (EU) 2024/1781. Batteries have their own passport under the Batteries Regulation.
• Purpose: give consumers, businesses and authorities reliable product information to support sustainability, circularity and legal compliance.
• How it is accessed: by scanning a data carrier placed on the product, its packaging or the accompanying documents.
• Where data lives: the passport is registered in a central EU registry, while the full product data is stored by the economic operator or a DPP service provider.

Is it always a QR code?

Not necessarily. The data carrier is defined for each product group in its own rules (delegated acts). QR codes and NFC chips are among the options being considered, and a harmonised European standard for DPP data carriers (EN 18220:2026) has been published. In practice, many passports are expected to use a QR code, but the exact requirement depends on your product category.

Timeline

• July 2026 – the DPP registry framework and six harmonised DPP standards were adopted.
• 20 July 2026 – the DPP registry became operational.
• 18 February 2027 – passports become mandatory for certain batteries: electric vehicle, light means of transport (such as e-bikes) and industrial batteries above 2 kWh.
• Indicative product groups (European Commission): iron and steel (2026), energy-related products (2026–2029), textiles, tyres and aluminium (2027), furniture (2028), mattresses and ICT products (2029).

The Commission notes that after each product-specific act is adopted, businesses get a transition period of at least 18 months.

Who should pay attention now?

• Battery and e-mobility sellers – the first mandatory deadline is February 2027.
• Textile and apparel brands – textiles are on the 2027 list, so requirements are expected to follow.
• Exporters to the EU – including manufacturers in Turkey selling into EU markets. The rules apply to products placed on the EU market, regardless of where they were made.
• Marketplace and online sellers – you will need to know which of your products need a passport and make sure the data carrier is present.

How to prepare without a big project

1. Map your catalogue – list which products fall into the announced product groups.
2. Give every product a clean identifier. A passport needs a unique identifier per model, batch or item, depending on the rules. Start with consistent SKUs and GTINs – see do you need barcodes to sell online?
3. Collect data from suppliers – materials, origin and other information your category will require.
4. Know your stock – which products, batches and quantities you actually hold, and where.
5. Follow the official sources – the European Commission's DPP pages and the act for your product group.

Where WiScanner helps

WiScanner is not a passport platform – it does not create or host DPPs. What it does is make the groundwork quick: knowing exactly what you have.

• Count products and batches with your phone – groups per location or batch, live running totals and Quantity Scan. See the inventory counting app.
• Check codes on products – scan barcodes and QR codes into a spreadsheet on a paired PC or Mac to see what each product already carries.
• Export to Google Sheets or CSV to build and maintain your product list.
• Generate consistent SKUs with the free SKU generator.

Sources: European Commission – Digital Product Passport pages and FAQ; Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1736; Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1778. Related: GS1 Sunrise 2027 and 2D barcodes.