Digital Product Passports: why Digital Trust is becoming part of every product
From batteries to textiles, electronics and beyond, the European Union is building a new digital layer around physical products. The Digital Product Passport will make product information more transparent and accessible, while the DPP Registry and qualified eSeals provide the trust infrastructure needed to make that information reliable.
Imagine buying a product and scanning a QR code with your smartphone. Instead of simply opening a website, you access a digital identity for that product: what it is made of, where relevant materials come from, how it can be repaired or recycled, and information about its sustainability and regulatory compliance. This is the vision behind the Digital Product Passport (DPP). Part of the European Union’s broader strategy for a circular and more sustainable economy, the DPP is designed to make relevant product information accessible throughout the product lifecycle. But there is another, less visible component of this transformation: digital trust.
For a DPP ecosystem to work, stakeholders must be able to trust not only the information associated with a product, but also the identity of the organisation providing it.
That is where the European DPP Registry, qualified electronic signatures and qualified electronic seals enter the picture.
A digital identity for physical products
A Digital Product Passport can be seen as a digital identity card for a product.
Depending on the applicable product-specific legislation, it can contain information about materials and components, environmental performance, traceability, repair and recycling, and regulatory compliance.
For consumers, this can mean greater transparency when making purchasing decisions. For businesses, the benefits extend much further.
- Manufacturers can use DPPs to communicate product information across supply chains.
- Repairers and recyclers can access information relevant to maintenance and end-of-life treatment.
- Authorities can use digital information to support compliance and market surveillance.
The DPP therefore represents more than a new form of product labelling. It is part of a broader transition towards a data-driven circular economy.
The DPP timeline: the first mandatory passports are approaching
The DPP will not become mandatory for every product at the same time. The European framework is being introduced progressively, with specific product groups addressed through dedicated legislation and delegated acts.From 18 February 2027, a Battery Passport will be required for relevant categories of batteries, including electric vehicle batteries, light means of transport batteries and industrial batteries above 2 kWh.
Other sectors will follow progressively. The European Commission’s ESPR Working Plan 2025–2030 identifies priority product groups including iron and steel, textiles and apparel, tyres, aluminium, furniture, mattresses and ICT products. This creates a clear message for businesses: DPP readiness is becoming a strategic issue today, not a compliance exercise to be addressed at the last minute.
Organisations need to understand which requirements will apply to their products, what information they will need to provide, how that information will be managed and, critically, how their organisation will be authenticated within the European DPP ecosystem.
The European DPP Registry: who is behind the data?
A digital passport is only as trustworthy as the ecosystem behind it. For this reason, the European Commission has established a central Digital Product Passport Registry. The Registry became operational on 20 July 2026, marking an important step in the implementation of the European DPP framework.
The Registry provides the infrastructure for registering DPPs and related identifiers. At the same time, product information can remain in decentralised systems rather than being stored entirely in one central database. An equally important function is establishing the identity of the economic operators participating in the system.
Before organisations can register and manage DPPs, they must go through an enrolment and verification process. This is where the concept of digital trust becomes tangible.
From company data to verified organisation
The enrolment process requires an economic operator to provide information that identifies the organisation and its legal status:
- Registering the organisation
the organisation enters the information requested by the DPP Registry, including relevant legal and identification details and compliance contact information.
- The PDF Declaration
the Registry generates an official PDF Declaration containing the information provided during registration.
- Qualified signature or seal.
The declaration must then be digitally signed or sealed using the appropriate qualified trust service. The resulting document is uploaded to the Registry for validation. Once the required checks have been successfully completed, the organisation can be verified within the DPP ecosystem.
The process illustrates an important principle: the DPP is not simply about making information available. It is about making information available within a trusted framework.
QES or eSeal? Why the distinction matters
One of the practical questions companies face during enrolment is which type of qualified electronic credential they need. The answer depends on whether the economic operator is a natural person or a legal person.
A Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) is associated with a natural person. Within the DPP Registry, it is relevant when the economic operator is itself a natural person, such as an individual acting in their own name. A QES provides the identity assurance and legal framework associated with a qualified electronic signature under eIDAS.
A Qualified Electronic Seal is associated with a legal person , for example, a company or organisation. This distinction is particularly important for businesses. An electronic seal allows an organisation to establish the origin and integrity of an electronic document at entity level. In the context of DPP Registry enrolment, companies registered as legal persons use a qualified electronic seal for the relevant verification process.
In practical terms, the eSeal connects the digital document to the legal identity of the organisation behind it. That connection is fundamental to a system in which companies will increasingly be responsible for large amounts of digital product information.
Digital trust: the invisible layer behind the DPP
To consumers, the DPP may be as simple as scanning a QR code. Behind that QR code, however, sits a complex infrastructure involving identifiers, data systems, interoperability, regulatory requirements and trusted identities.A manufacturer provides information about its product. A distributor may need to access or communicate some of that information. A repairer may rely on information about components. A recycler may need data relevant to dismantling or material recovery. Authorities may need to verify compliance.
At every stage, trust matters.
- Who provided the information?
- Can the organisation be identified?
- Has the information been altered?
- Can the digital document be relied upon?
Qualified trust services help answer these questions.
The eSeal, in particular, provides a mechanism for establishing the origin and integrity of electronic documents associated with a legal entity. This makes it much more than a technical certificate. It is one of the building blocks of a trusted digital economy.
Why the choice of QTSP matters
Qualified electronic signatures and seals must be provided within the European trust framework by a Qualified Trust Service Provider (QTSP). The European Commission maintains the official EU/EEA Trusted List Browser, which allows organisations to consult qualified trust service providers and the qualified trust services available across the European Economic Area. For companies preparing for DPP enrolment, choosing the right trust service provider is therefore an important part of the implementation journey.
There is also a practical consideration that should not be underestimated: certificate information must be consistent with the organisation’s registration data. A mismatch between the organisation’s identity information and the attributes contained in the qualified certificate can create problems during verification.
Preparation therefore means looking beyond the DPP itself and considering the organisation’s broader digital trust infrastructure.
The next step in Europe’s digital transformation
The Digital Product Passport is often described as a tool for sustainability and circularity. It is certainly that. But it is also part of something broader: the digitalisation of trust around physical goods. As products acquire digital identities, the organisations responsible for those products need trusted digital identities too.
The DPP Registry provides a European framework for establishing that identity. Qualified electronic signatures and seals provide the trust mechanisms that connect digital documents to the people and organisations behind them. QTSPs provide the qualified trust services that underpin this infrastructure.
“How will we prove that the digital identity behind that information can be trusted?”
That is where the future of the Digital Product Passport meets the future of digital trust.
