Digital Product Passport Regulations: Delegated Acts

DPP delegated acts are there to perfectly tailor the information to be present in a DPP and other technical requirements. The first delegated acts for DPP are set to fully take effect between 2027 and 2028, with batteries and textiles leading the charge.

Delegated acts are non-legislative acts that the European Union adopts to support or amend the non-primary elements of a legislation. The European Commission subjects delegated acts to some strict limits:

• The delegated act cannot interfere with the primary or essential elements of the law.
• The legislative act must make the objectives, content, scope and duration of the delegation very clear.
• The Parliament and European Council may revoke or bring up objections to the delegated act.

The European Commission adopts and comes up with delegated acts by consulting with expert groups composed of European countries’ representatives. The Commission and these expert groups meet on an occasional basis to finalise and create details for delegated acts.The European Parliament and council have a period of two months after the European Commission adopts a delegated act 

to raise any objections. If they do not raise any, the delegated act is immediately implemented.  

Content of the DPP delegated acts

The content of the digital product passport delegated acts will cover the following:

• the specific product groups to be involved;
• the information that needs to be included in the digital product passport;
• the types of data carrier to use for the passport;
• Presentation of the layout for the data carrier and its positioning;
• Whether the digital product passport should correspond to the model, item level, or batch;
• In what way the digital product passport will be made accessible to end users before being bound by a sales contract, including instances of distance selling;
• the actors that will be able to access the information in the digital product passport and what information they should be accessible to, including customers, manufacturers, end users, importers and distributors, repairers, remanufacturers, dealers, recyclers, competent national authorities, public interest organisations and the Commission, or any organisation representing them;
• the actors able to introduce or update the information in the digital product passport, including where there is a need to create a new product passport, and the information they are allowed to introduce or update, including repairers, manufacturers, maintenance professionals, recyclers, remanufacturers, competent national authorities, and the Commission, or any organisation representing them;
• the duration the digital product passport will remain available;
  specifications for testing purposes, measurements or calculations required to establish or verify authenticity;
  requirements on what information manufacturers should provide, including data on the elements of technical documentation to verify the product complies with] the eco-design requirements.

Technical Requirements For The DPP System

Information on the technical aspects of digital product passports that should generally apply to product groups are contained in the ESPR. According to the requirements, digital product passports will complement and not replace existing non-digital forms of sharing product information e.g, labels.

Digital product passports should offer free access to all actors in the supply chain. It might carry information related to sustainability and must be based on open standards. DPP will allow differentiated access based on information type and the type of stakeholder.

Actors may include or update some of the information in the digital product passport, or create a new one when necessary. All these, including the duration in which DPP shall be available, will be clarified in the digital product passport delegated acts.

Depending on the size and nature of the products, digital product passports will provide information specific to the item, batch, or model. Intermediate goods or materials can also possess a digital product passport. The information in the DPP should be easy to access by scanning a data carrier like a QR code.

The data carrier must always be on the product item to ensure the information contained remains accessible throughout its lifecycle. The ESPR outlines that the data carrier must be present on the item, packaging, and documentation of the product.

Features of DPP such as, permitted data carriers, access right management, data authentication, and data storage need to be standardised in order to ensure interoperability. The digital product passport will most likely be based on a decentralised system and maintained by key economic actors.

Interoperability plays a key role in ensuring seamless integration and communication between different stakeholders. Some key features that implement interoperability in digital product passports include:

• Standardised Data Formats
• APIs and Integration
• Digital Signatures and Authentication
• Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)
• Metadata and Semantic InteroperabilityCompliance with Regulatory Standards
• Global Data Synchronisation
• Cloud-Based Solutions
• Version Control and Change Management
• User Access and Permissions

Interoperability in digital product passports is necessary to enhance transparency, efficiency, and trust across supply chains.

Final Words

Delegated acts serve as support or amendments for the non-essential elements of a legislation. The EU’s digital product passport delegated act has to do with the information to be included in the DPP and other specifications like type of data carrier and data attributes.

The DPP regulation delegated acts identify the specific product groups and duration the delegated acts are to last for. Once the delegated acts are finalised, the road to fully implementing digital product passports will be wide open, provided there are no objections from the European Council and Parliament.

To find out more about DPP delegated acts, Book a call with our expert.