The Digital Product Passport glossary
Every term you meet when preparing product passports and EU product compliance, explained in plain English, with the key dates and the official sources.
A
- RegulationsAGEC law (France)The AGEC law is France's anti-waste and circular economy law (Loi n° 2020-105 of 10 February 2020). It requires brands to publish environmental product information such as recycled content, recyclability and, for textiles and shoes, where each manufacturing step took place, and it bans destroying unsold goods.
- Standards and formatsAsset Administration Shell (AAS)The Asset Administration Shell is a standardized digital twin of a physical or digital asset, built from reusable data blocks called submodels. Defined in IEC 63278-1 and maintained by the Industrial Digital Twin Association (IDTA), it is one of the main formats used to build and exchange Digital Product Passports.
B
C
- RegulationsCE markingThe CE marking is the mark a manufacturer puts on a product to declare that it meets all EU harmonized requirements that apply to it. It is required only for products covered by EU laws that call for it, such as toys, electrical equipment, machinery and batteries, and it lets those products move freely in the EU market.
- Standards and formatsCIRPASS and CIRPASS-2CIRPASS is the EU-funded project that prepared the ground for the Digital Product Passport, defining what a DPP is and drafting roadmaps for electronics, batteries and textiles. Its successor, CIRPASS-2, runs from May 2024 to April 2027 and tests passports in 13 real-world pilots across textiles, electronics, tyres and construction materials.
D
- Identifiers and dataData carrierA data carrier is a barcode, 2D symbol such as a QR code, or other machine-readable medium like an RFID or NFC tag that links a physical product to its Digital Product Passport. ESPR requires it to be physically present on the product, its packaging or accompanying documentation.
- RegulationsDelegated actA delegated act is a legally binding EU act adopted by the European Commission to supplement or amend non-essential parts of a law passed by the European Parliament and the Council. Under ESPR, delegated acts set the actual product requirements and Digital Product Passport rules for each product group.
- RegulationsDigital Product Passport (DPP)A Digital Product Passport is a digital record of a product's identity, materials, sustainability and repair information, reached through a data carrier such as a QR code on the product. The EU's Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation makes it mandatory product group by product group.
- BatteriesDIN DKE SPEC 99100DIN DKE SPEC 99100 is a German specification, published in English in 2025, that lists the data attributes of the EU battery passport. It turns Article 77 and Annex XIII of the Battery Regulation into a structured set of fields, each with its legal reference, access group, data type and whether it is mandatory or recommended.
- RegulationsDPP registryThe DPP registry is the European Commission's central database that stores the unique identifiers of every product with a Digital Product Passport, plus a few registration details. It does not hold the passport itself; it lets customs and authorities confirm that a valid passport exists.
- RegulationsDPP service providerA DPP service provider is an independent third party that a brand authorizes to store and process its Digital Product Passport data and make it available to the people entitled to see it. ESPR requires every passport to have a back-up copy held by such a provider.
E
- RegulationsEcodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR)The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 is the EU framework law that sets sustainability requirements for almost all physical products sold in the EU, including durability, repairability, recycled content and the Digital Product Passport. The detailed rules for each product group arrive in separate delegated acts.
- RegulationsEconomic operatorAn economic operator is any business in the supply chain that EU product law gives obligations to. Under ESPR that means the manufacturer, the authorized representative, the importer, the distributor, the dealer and the fulfilment service provider.
- Repair and circularityElectronic instructions for use (eIFU)Electronic instructions for use (eIFU) are a product's user manual, safety information and instructions supplied in digital form, usually through a website, QR code or app, instead of on paper. EU law allows them product group by product group, with conditions on access, format and paper copies.
- RegulationsEmpowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (EmpCo)Directive (EU) 2024/825, known as EmpCo or ECGT, bans generic green claims, uncertified sustainability labels, offset-based climate-neutral claims and early-obsolescence practices, and adds new consumer information on durability, repair and guarantees. Its rules apply across the EU from 27 September 2026.
- Standards and formatsEN 18216 and the DPP standardsEN 18216 is the first of eight European standards from CEN-CENELEC committee JTC 24 that set the technical rules for Digital Product Passports: identifiers, data carriers, data exchange, APIs, storage, interoperability, access rights and data integrity. Six of them are harmonized standards under ESPR since 15 July 2026.
- BatteriesEU Battery RegulationThe EU Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 sets rules for every battery sold in the EU across its whole life: sustainability, safety, labelling, the battery passport, due diligence, extended producer responsibility, collection and recycling. It replaced the Batteries Directive and has applied since 18 February 2024, with obligations phasing in until the 2030s.
- RegulationsEU Declaration of Conformity (DoC)An EU Declaration of Conformity is the document in which a manufacturer declares, under its sole responsibility, that a product meets all the EU legislation that applies to it. It is drawn up before the CE marking is affixed and kept available to authorities for 10 years after the product is placed on the market.
- Repair and circularityExtended Producer Responsibility (EPR)Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) makes the producer of a product pay for, and often organize, the collection and recycling of that product once it becomes waste. In the EU it applies to packaging, electrical equipment and batteries, and EU-wide EPR for textiles and footwear must be in place by 17 April 2028.
G
- RegulationsGeneral Product Safety Regulation (GPSR)The General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 is the EU's baseline safety law for consumer products. Since 13 December 2024 it requires every consumer product sold in the EU, in stores or online, to be safe, traceable and linked to a responsible business established in the EU.
- Standards and formatsGS1 Digital LinkGS1 Digital Link is a GS1 standard for writing product identifiers such as the GTIN, batch and serial number as a web address. Put in a QR code, the same code can be scanned at a retail checkout and opened on a phone to show the product's passport, instructions or other online information.
- Identifiers and dataGTIN (Global Trade Item Number)A GTIN is the GS1 number that identifies a trade item, such as a product model sold at retail. It is the number behind EAN and UPC barcodes, comes in 8, 12, 13 or 14 digits, and is built from a GS1 Company Prefix, an item reference and a check digit.
P
R
- Substances and materialsRecycled contentRecycled content is the share of a product or packaging, by weight, made from materials recovered from waste rather than virgin raw materials. EU law sets minimum recycled content for plastic packaging from 2030 and for cobalt, lead, lithium and nickel in batteries from 2031, and ESPR can require it for more products.
- Repair and circularityRepairability indexA repairability index is a score that tells buyers how easy a product is to repair, based on criteria such as spare parts, disassembly and repair information. France introduced the first one in 2021, and since 20 June 2025 the EU energy label for smartphones and tablets shows a repairability class from A to E.
- Repair and circularityRight to Repair DirectiveThe Right to Repair Directive (EU) 2024/1799 requires manufacturers of certain products, such as washing machines, fridges, smartphones and e-bike batteries, to repair them at a reasonable price and within a reasonable time, also after the legal guarantee ends. EU countries apply it from 31 July 2026.
- Substances and materialsRoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances)RoHS is the EU Directive 2011/65/EU that restricts ten hazardous substances, such as lead, mercury, cadmium and four phthalates, in electrical and electronic equipment. Products must stay below set concentration limits in each homogeneous material before they can carry the CE marking and be sold in the EU.
S
- Substances and materialsSCIP databaseSCIP is ECHA's database of articles that contain Substances of Very High Concern from the REACH Candidate List above 0.1% by weight. Since 5 January 2021, the Waste Framework Directive requires companies supplying such articles on the EU market to notify them, so the information follows products through their life, including at the waste stage.
- Substances and materialsSubstance of Very High Concern (SVHC)A Substance of Very High Concern (SVHC) is a chemical identified under the EU REACH Regulation as having serious effects on human health or the environment, such as causing cancer or building up in nature. Once added to ECHA's Candidate List, it triggers duties for every company whose products contain it above 0.1% by weight.
T
U
- Standards and formatsUN Transparency Protocol (UNTP)The UN Transparency Protocol is an open set of specifications from UNECE's UN/CEFACT for sharing verifiable product, facility and conformity data along supply chains. It defines digital credentials, such as a Digital Product Passport and a Conformity Credential, that each actor signs and publishes without a central database.
- Identifiers and dataUnique product identifier (UPI)A unique product identifier is a unique string of characters that identifies a product and also enables a web link to its Digital Product Passport. Under ESPR it can identify a model, a batch or a single item, as the product group's delegated act requires.