ESPR Article 9 explained: the Digital Product Passport requirement

ESPR Article 9: Mandatory Digital Product Passports for EU Market Entry

Article 9 of the ESPR establishes a fundamental requirement: no product can be sold, supplied, or put into service anywhere in the European Union without a Digital Product Passport. This isn’t optional, conditional, or phased in gradually. It’s a hard rule that applies from the moment a product enters the EU market, regardless of whether it’s destined for retail consumers, business customers, or industrial use.

The regulation recognizes that modern supply chains are complex, and transparency at every stage protects both consumers and the environment. A Digital Product Passport serves as the primary mechanism to deliver that transparency, consolidating product information into a standardized, accessible format that follows the product throughout its life in the market.

What a Digital Product Passport Must Contain

The ESPR doesn’t prescribe a one-size-fits-all data template. Instead, the European Commission will issue delegated acts—detailed, product-category-specific rules—that define exactly which data points must be included in each passport. For example, the data requirements for clothing will differ from those for electronics, which will differ from furniture or batteries.

What remains constant across all product categories is that the data must be:

• Accurate: Information must reflect the true properties, composition, and performance of the product
• Complete: Nothing material can be omitted; the passport must answer the questions the Commission has identified as relevant for that product group
• Current: Data must be updated whenever product specifications, supply chain information, repairability details, or other material facts change

The Commission’s delegated acts will also specify which data carriers or technical formats are acceptable—such as QR codes, RFID chips, blockchain registries, or other machine-readable systems—and how data should be structured for consistency and interoperability.

Accessibility: When and How Customers Must See Passport Data

Article 9 ensures that customers aren’t left guessing. Information in the Digital Product Passport must be accessible before a customer makes a purchase decision. For physical retail, this means in-store access. For online sales, the passport data must be available through the product listing or website, allowing someone browsing an e-commerce platform to review durability, repairability, environmental impact, or other relevant details before clicking “buy.”

This pre-purchase access requirement levels the playing field: consumers can compare products transparently, and companies that invest in sustainability and longevity can showcase those advantages directly.

The Commission’s detailed rules will also clarify:

• Who can access the data (consumers, business customers, authorities, repair professionals, recyclers)
• What access restrictions, if any, apply to sensitive business information
• How data should be presented to different audiences (consumer-friendly language for shoppers, technical detail for compliance authorities)

Data Management: Who Owns, Creates, and Updates the Passport

The Digital Product Passport isn’t a static document created once and archived. It’s a living record. The ESPR anticipates that multiple parties in the supply chain—manufacturers, importers, distributors, repair services, recyclers—may need to contribute data as the product moves through its lifecycle.

The Commission’s delegated acts will set out clear procedures for:

• Who is responsible for creating the initial passport
• Who updates it when circumstances change (e.g., when a battery is replaced, when repairability is verified, when recalls occur)
• How data handoffs occur between actors (e.g., from manufacturer to importer to retailer)
• How conflicts or errors in passport data are identified and corrected

These procedural rules aim to prevent gaps, duplications, and disputes over data accuracy.

Lifetime Availability and Traceability

A critical requirement: the Digital Product Passport must remain available and accessible for at least as long as the product’s expected lifespan. For a refrigerator with a 15-year expected life, the passport stays live for 15 years. For a smartphone expected to last 5 years, it must be accessible for 5 years.

This longevity requirement serves multiple purposes. It supports traceability: authorities can track products and investigate safety or compliance issues years after manufacture. It enables repair and remanufacturing: a technician fixing a product years into its life can access specifications, spare parts data, and repair instructions. It facilitates responsible end-of-life management: recyclers can access material composition and hazardous substance declarations to sort and process products correctly.

The Commission’s rules will specify data retention obligations, archival standards, and how companies must ensure passport accessibility even if they change systems, merge, or restructure.

How This Connects to Broader ESPR Obligations

Article 9 doesn’t operate in isolation. It works alongside other ESPR requirements. For instance, Article 8 sets out broader transparency obligations for product information; Article 9 operationalizes those obligations through the Digital Product Passport mechanism. Articles on due diligence, compliance verification, and enforcement all depend on the passport as a source of truth and evidence.

The passport is also a tool for compliance. Competent authorities will use it to verify that companies are meeting their sustainability, transparency, and due diligence obligations under the ESPR.

What This Means for Businesses

If your company manufactures, imports, or distributes products in the EU market, implementing Digital Product Passport systems isn’t a future consideration—it’s a compliance mandate. You’ll need to:

• Monitor European Commission delegated acts for your product category to understand which data points your passport must include
• Design or adopt systems that capture, store, and transmit that data accurately and securely
• Ensure your passport is accessible to customers before purchase, whether in physical retail or online channels
• Establish processes to update passport data throughout the product’s life, particularly when product specifications, supply chain facts, or safety information change
• Plan for data retention and accessibility over the product’s expected lifespan, accounting for system migrations, organizational changes, and regulatory updates
• Work with suppliers, logistics partners, and retailers to establish clear handoff procedures so the passport remains accurate as the product moves through the supply chain

Early adoption and collaboration with industry peers on technical standards (such as GS1 or EPCIS 2.0 for data exchange) will reduce costs and complexity as the delegated acts materialize.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does every product sold in the EU need a Digital Product Passport?

Article 9 applies to products covered by the ESPR scope. The regulation focuses on products with significant environmental impact—primarily textiles, furniture, batteries, and electronics, among others. Not every product needs a passport, but for in-scope categories, it’s mandatory before market entry. The Commission’s delegated acts will clarify which specific product groups and types require passports.

If I’m a small retailer, do I have to create and manage the Digital Product Passport?

No. The responsibility for creating and maintaining the initial Digital Product Passport typically falls on the manufacturer or importer. Retailers must ensure the passport is accessible to customers at the point of sale, but they’re not obligated to generate the underlying data unless they modify the product or represent themselves as the importer. The Commission’s delegated acts will clarify the exact allocation of responsibilities across the supply chain.

What happens if a company fails to provide a Digital Product Passport or provides inaccurate data?

The ESPR includes enforcement and penalty mechanisms. Competent national authorities can issue warnings, require corrections, impose fines, and ultimately suspend market access for non-compliant products. Inaccurate or incomplete passport data can be treated as a breach of the regulation, so accuracy is not negotiable. Companies should implement robust quality assurance processes to validate passport data before products reach the market.

Official text (ESPR Article 9): “products can only be placed on the market or put into service if a digital product passport is available” — Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, EUR-Lex

Related: ESPR explained · What is a Digital Product Passport?