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The European Union defines the Digital Product Passport as a “digital identity card” created for products, components, and materials. The Digital Product Passport (“DPP”) is a system that links a physical product to a digital record relating to that product and enables information about the product to be made accessible electronically.
The passport will be accessible by scanning a QR code or a similar data carrier placed on the product itself, its packaging, or the documents accompanying the product. The type of data carrier to be used and its location on the product will be determined separately in the regulation applicable to the relevant product group.
The primary objectives of the Digital Product Passport are to support the sustainability and circularity of products, ensure that information relating to products is shared in a more transparent and standardized manner, and facilitate the monitoring of compliance with applicable legislation.
The system aims to enable consumers to make more informed decisions about products; allow manufacturers and other economic operators to access supply-chain data in a more systematic manner; facilitate repair, refurbishment, and recycling activities; and improve the effectiveness of market surveillance and customs controls.
The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation has been designed with a broad scope and may cover a wide range of physical products placed on or put into service on the European Union market, including components and intermediate products. However, food and feed, medicinal products for human and veterinary use, living plants and animals, and products of human origin are excluded from this framework.
The Digital Product Passport will not become mandatory for all products on the same date. Which products will be required to have a passport, what information the passport must contain, and when the relevant obligations will commence will be determined through regulations adopted on a product-group basis.
The primary legal basis for the Digital Product Passport is Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for sustainable products, which entered into force on 18 July 2024.
The Regulation establishes the general legal framework for setting ecodesign requirements for sustainable products and establishing the Digital Product Passport system. The specific (“DPP”) obligations applicable to a particular product group will be clarified in product-specific delegated acts to be adopted by the European Commission. For certain product groups, Digital Product Passport obligations may also be introduced under other sector-specific European Union legislation.
The information required to be included in the Digital Product Passport will not be the same for all products. The mandatory data fields for each product group will be determined separately in the regulation adopted for the relevant product.
Depending on the nature of the product, the passport may contain information such as the product’s identification details, information on the manufacturer or responsible economic operator, material composition, origin, environmental performance, percentage of recycled content, durability, reparability, spare-part information, maintenance and use instructions, recycling methods, substances of concern, and documentation demonstrating compliance with applicable legislation.
Access rights to the information contained in the passport may also vary depending on the role of the user. While consumers may access information concerning the product’s key characteristics and environmental performance, professional repairers may have access to disassembly instructions, compatible spare parts, and fault-diagnosis information. Recycling operators may have access to more detailed data concerning the material composition and the safe separation of the product.
The data contained in the Digital Product Passport must:
Personal data relating to customers may not be stored in the Digital Product Passport unless explicit consent has been obtained.
The Digital Product Passport is not an initiative that concerns only manufacturers established in the European Union. Where a product subject to a mandatory (“DPP”) requirement under product-specific legislation is imported into the European Union from a third country, the relevant passport obligation must also be fulfilled. The economic operator responsible for placing the product on the EU market will be responsible for ensuring that the passport is available and compliant with the applicable legislation.
Accordingly, even where Türkiye-based businesses exporting to the European Union do not themselves qualify as the responsible economic operator in the European Union, it is important for them to be able to provide the product data requested by their EU-based importers and business partners in a timely, accurate, and verifiable manner.
The Digital Product Passport should not be regarded merely as a QR code or labeling application. The system requires a comprehensive corporate compliance process addressing supplier management, product and material data, technical documentation, sustainability declarations, data security, contractual arrangements, and regulatory compliance processes collectively.
In this context, companies should identify their product portfolios and the EU legislation applicable to them, map data sources throughout their supply chains, review data-provision and data-accuracy provisions in supplier agreements, assess whether their technical infrastructure is compatible with (“DPP”) standards, and closely monitor product-specific regulations.
The Digital Product Passport will not become mandatory for all products simultaneously. The European Union will introduce the system progressively, based on product groups.
The main product groups prioritized under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products and Energy Labelling Working Plan include:
In addition, sector-specific European Union legislation provides for a Digital Battery Passport for certain types of batteries. For electric vehicle batteries, batteries for light means of transport, and industrial batteries with a capacity exceeding 2 kWh, the passport obligation will commence on 18 February 2027.
The inclusion of a product group in the Working Plan does not mean that the Digital Product Passport immediately becomes mandatory for that product. Following the adoption of product-specific regulations, economic operators are generally expected to be granted a transition period of at least 18 months.
He graduated from the Departments of Law and Economics at Istanbul Beykent University.
Areas of Expertise: Corporate Law, Technology Law, Contract Law, Financial Law, ESG, Artificial Intelligence Law, and Fintech Law.
