Your DPP Is Only as Good as Your Product Data
In July 2026, the European Commission published references to six harmonised DPP standards covering data exchange, unique identifiers, data carriers, data storage, APIs and system interoperability.
Together, they start to define how product information will need to move, connect and be understood across the DPP ecosystem. For brands, that brings the focus back to something much more fundamental than the passport itself: the quality and structure of the product data behind it.
A QR code may provide the way into a DPP, but it is structured, identifiable and interoperable product data that makes the passport work.
The DPP challenge starts before the QR code
Most brands already hold a lot of the information that could eventually feed a Digital Product Passport.
The problem is where and how it is held.
Product information might sit across a PIM, PLM or ERP, while materials data is held by suppliers, compliance evidence sits in documents and other attributes live in spreadsheets.
A DPP needs those systems and data points to connect. This is also reflected in the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) methodology for defining DPP data requirements.
It puts the focus on understanding existing data practices, identifying data needs, using appropriate vocabularies and defining data granularity, access and governance.
In other words: start by understanding your data, not by designing the passport.
One product, one identity: where GTIN fits
Structured data isn’t much use if systems cannot reliably determine which product it belongs to.
That makes product identification another critical part of DPP readiness.
One of the newly harmonised standards, EN 18219:2026, specifically addresses unique identifiers within the DPP system.
For many brands, GS1 Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) are already part of this foundation.
GTINs are widely used to identify products across retail and global supply chains, and the ESPR explicitly references GTIN within the DPP framework.
This doesn’t mean GTIN is the only possible identifier for every DPP use case. It does mean brands should look carefully at the product identification infrastructure they already have before creating something new.
A useful question is:
Are our product identifiers consistently connected to the product data held across our PIM, PLM, ERP and other systems?
Don’t create another data silo
This is where PIM and other product data systems become particularly important.
A PIM can help centralise and structure product attributes. PLM can hold materials and product specifications. ERP, traceability and compliance platforms may each hold other pieces of the DPP puzzle.
The goal shouldn’t be to copy all of that information into yet another database.
It should be to make trusted product data structured, identifiable and interoperable so that the appropriate information can flow into a DPP when required.
The new harmonised standards make that interoperability point particularly relevant. They establish common technical foundations for how DPP systems exchange, identify, store and access information.
Four questions brands can ask now
You don’t need to wait for every product-specific DPP requirement to be finalised.
1. Where is our product data?
Map what sits in PIM, PLM, ERP, supplier, traceability and compliance systems.
2. What isn’t structured?
Find important information trapped in PDFs, spreadsheets and free-text fields.
3. How are our products identified?
Review how GTINs and other identifiers are assigned and connected across your systems.
4. Can our systems exchange the data?
Ask your PIM, PLM, ERP, GS1, DPP and other technology partners how their systems will support the emerging DPP standards.
The passport comes last
The visible DPP might ultimately be accessed through a QR code.
But what makes it useful is everything behind it:
Structured product data. Trusted product identity. Interoperable systems.
For brands, that’s the place to start.
And for Buyerdock and the wider service provider network, that’s the opportunity: helping brands connect the product data and systems they already have to the DPP infrastructure they will need next.
Find your pathway to DPP
DPP readiness doesn’t sit with one system or one provider. It connects product data, identifiers, standards, technology and the wider supply chain.
At Buyerdock, we work across the DPP ecosystem to help brands understand where they are today, identify the gaps and build a practical pathway towards DPP readiness connecting the systems, data and partners they already have.
Talk to our team about your pathway to DPP or continue your DPP readiness journey.
ontinue your DPP readiness journey
References
European Commission — Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1736, 14 July 2026. Harmonised DPP standards covering data exchange protocols (EN 18216), unique identifiers (EN 18219), data carriers (EN 18220), data storage and persistence (EN 18221), APIs (EN 18222) and system interoperability (EN 18223).
European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) — Methodology for defining data requirements for the Digital Product Passport under the ESPR framework, 2026.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 — Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR).
GS1 — Digital Product Passport guidance, including the role of GTIN within the ESPR/DPP framework.
