Start with the distinction
Regulations set obligations. Standards support implementation.
The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) establishes the EU framework. Product-specific measures determine which products need a passport, the required information and the applicable dates. The technical standards address how passport systems identify products, carry information and exchange it. Read the ESPR.
Which products, and when?
Check the applicable legislation and product-specific measures.
Open the regulation tracker →How should the system work?
Review the relevant standards and the evidence for their implementation.
See the standards below ↓On 15 July 2026, the EU published references to six harmonised DPP standards in the Official Journal. Conformity with those standards can provide a presumption of conformity with the ESPR requirements they cover. This is not a blanket certification of a product or platform. Decision (EU) 2026/1736.
The standards body
What is CEN-CENELEC JTC 24?
JTC 24 is the joint technical committee for the Digital Product Passport framework and system. It develops a common technical foundation that can work across product sectors. The committee is not itself a standard: each deliverable has a separate number, scope and development status.
Its framework covers eight areas, from identifiers and data carriers to access rights and data integrity. It does not define every product's required sustainability data; those details depend on the relevant product rules and standards. CEN-CENELEC's DPP overview.
Published and cited
The six harmonised DPP standards
The following six references appear in the July 2026 EU decision. The examples and questions are DPPora's practical prompts for evaluating an implementation, rather than a clause-by-clause assessment. Check the Official Journal list.
Unique identifiers
How products, economic operators and facilities are identified consistently. Product identity can be assigned at model, batch or individual-item level.
Decide whether two items share a model passport or need separate item records. Keep the identifier distinct from the website address that displays its passport.
Ask your provider: How are identifiers assigned, kept unique and retained when a service changes?
Official reference and scopeData carriers
The connection between a physical product and its digital record, including carrier readability, placement, production quality and durability.
Test the code on the actual packaging or product surface. A code that works on a screen may fail after printing, wear or a change in lighting.
Ask your provider: How is the chosen carrier checked on the product throughout its expected use?
Official reference and scopeData exchange protocols
How systems exchange structured passport information using compatible formats and communication protocols.
A supply-chain partner should be able to process material information as data, instead of manually copying it from a public webpage.
Ask your provider: Which formats and exchange protocols are supported, and can another system use them?
Official reference and scopeStorage, archiving and persistence
The framework for keeping passport data stored, archived and available over time.
Plan what happens to the record after a product is discontinued, a supplier leaves or the passport provider changes.
Ask your provider: Who retains the data, for how long, and how will continuity and recovery be demonstrated?
Official reference and scopeAPIs, lifecycle management and searchability
Interfaces that support finding passports and interacting with them during their lifecycle.
Ask a provider to demonstrate how an authorised system finds a passport, reads its data and manages an update.
Ask your provider: Is there documented evidence for the supported API operations and access rules?
Official reference and scopeSystem interoperability
The common framework for DPP systems to work together.
Test a real exchange between two independent systems. Check that both interpret identifiers, values and units consistently.
Ask your provider: Which interoperability scenarios have been tested with another implementation?
Official reference and scopeKeep the status visible
Further work on access and integrity
JTC 24's wider framework also includes the following two subjects. The linked catalogue entries are drafts, and neither reference appears in Decision (EU) 2026/1736. Draft content and Official Journal citation are separate status checks.
prEN 18239
Access rights, information-system security and business confidentiality.
BSI draft entryWhen specifying a system, record the edition being assessed and check for later publications, amendments and Official Journal references. A development date alone does not establish harmonised status.
Identity, carrier and destination
Where do GS1 and Digital Link fit?
A product identifier tells a system which product or item it is dealing with. A data carrier makes that identity accessible from the physical object. A web address provides a route to related information. These roles need to be designed together.
GS1 Digital Link defines a way to represent GS1 identifiers in web addresses. Those addresses can be encoded in suitable carriers and connected to online information. It is an implementation building block, not another name for the complete DPP framework. GS1 Digital Link URI Syntax.
For example, a manufacturer may need model-level data for an entire range and item-level data for a particular unit. The identification approach must reflect the required granularity and remain understandable to other systems. EN 18219 covers model, batch and individual-item identification. Identifier scope.
An ordinary QR link is not automatically a GS1 Digital Link. Adding a GTIN field to a passport also does not, by itself, demonstrate conformity with an identifier or resolver standard.
Use the Verified by GS1 lookup in the Product identity step to check a GTIN against GS1 records and view available product and licence-holder information directly in your workspace. You can check the entered GTIN without saving the product. Available information varies by GTIN; some results contain only licence information, which does not verify the complete product. Look up any GTIN and automatically populate drafts with available GS1 product identity and photos. GS1 source fields remain read-only. Publishing requires a matching GS1 licence approved by DPPora. Submit licence evidence in Company profile. Import limits and passport allowances apply. This lookup is separate from Digital Link routing and does not establish standards conformity. DPPora is an independent service with access to the Verified by GS1 API and is a member of AECOC / GS1 Spain. DPPora is not operated by GS1, and API access does not imply GS1 endorsement or certification. DPPora does not issue GTINs. A lookup does not certify a product, a passport or regulatory compliance.
Make it demonstrable
What does interoperability look like in practice?
A useful demonstration follows information from one organisation's system into another. As a buyer, ask to see the receiving system recognise the product, interpret the data and apply the right access conditions.
- Identity: both systems recognise the same product and granularity.
- Meaning: fields, units and values retain their intended meaning.
- Exchange: documented interfaces allow the intended information to be retrieved.
- Access: public information and restricted evidence are handled appropriately.
- Continuity: records remain usable through updates and provider changes.
These are practical evaluation questions, not a substitute for the normative requirements. A successful webpage visit proves public access; evidence of system-to-system exchange is needed to substantiate a broader interoperability claim. Data exchange scope.
Our implementation
How DPPora approaches the framework
DPPora provides structured product records, stable public passport destinations while hosted, QR access, supporting evidence and version history. The example passport lets you inspect how a maintained record presents identity, materials and lifecycle information.
Inspect the working product
Explore the public record, its language options and its history.
View the example passport →Assess the requirements separately
This guide does not claim that DPPora is certified to the complete EN framework. Conformity claims need evidence for the relevant edition, clauses and implementation.
Discuss your requirements →For a standards-based procurement decision, request a mapping of applicable requirements to the product's behaviour, test evidence and any remaining gaps. Shared terminology and a feature list are a starting point for that assessment.
Common questions
Is JTC 24 itself a standard?
No. CEN-CENELEC JTC 24 is the technical committee responsible for the Digital Product Passport framework and system. Its work produces individual standards with their own reference numbers and scopes.
Read the sourceDoes following a standard make every product compliant?
No. Conformity with an Official Journal-cited harmonised standard provides a presumption of conformity only for the legal requirements that standard covers. Product-specific information, applicable dates and other obligations still need to be assessed.
Read the sourceIs a QR code enough for a Digital Product Passport?
A QR code provides a route to information. The passport also needs the applicable identity, data, access and lifecycle arrangements. Choosing a scannable graphic alone does not establish compliance with those requirements.
Read the sourceWhere can I read the complete standards?
Obtain the applicable edition through a national standards body or its authorised publisher. The public scope descriptions linked here help explain the subject; a conformity assessment needs the complete relevant requirements.
Read the sourceOfficial sources and review notes
This overview uses the legal references and public standards descriptions below. It does not reproduce the full standards or replace an assessment against the applicable requirements.
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 — ESPR
- Decision (EU) 2026/1736 — six harmonised DPP references
- CEN-CENELEC — JTC 24 and the DPP framework
- GS1 Digital Link URI Syntax, release 1.7.0
Individual scope and draft-catalogue links accompany the relevant entries above. Sources were checked on 12 September 2026. Later editions or legal references may change the assessment.