COMPLIANCE / DPP / GS1 DIGITAL LINK
Digital Product Passport Software: The Code, the Data and the Page
A digital product passport needs a code on the product, tiered data and a page that serves it. How LabelInn registers passports when you print, hosts the page and checks required fields, and where it stops.
THE PROBLEM
A digital product passport (DPP) is a record about one product that anyone can reach by scanning a code on it. The EU is introducing it through the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, and batteries come first: the battery passport obligation applies from 18 February 2027 to electric vehicle batteries, light means of transport batteries and industrial batteries above 2 kWh. Other product groups follow as the Commission adopts rules for each.
Implementing details are still being finalised, so check official sources for the current state. What does not change is the shape of the job: put an identifier on every product, keep the right data behind it, and serve it to the right audience.
🔎 Just need the identifier? The free GS1 Digital Link generator builds the URL and the QR code from a GTIN, lot and serial.
01 / DIGITAL PRODUCT PASSPORT
The three parts of a passport
| Part | What it is | How LabelInn handles it |
|---|---|---|
| The code on the product | A 2D code carrying a GS1 Digital Link: the GTIN, plus batch and serial for item-level passports | A GS1 DataMatrix element with a passport switch. It encodes the Digital Link URL and adds a per-item serial automatically, so every printed item has its own address |
| The data | Product facts, split by who may see them | Fields carry an access tier: public, restricted or private. Fields that are known to be restricted are kept out of the public tier on the server |
| The page | What a scan opens | A hosted passport page for shoppers, and a machine-readable JSON-LD version for authorities, from the same address |
02 / DPP
What happens when you print
- You design the label with a GS1 DataMatrix, turn on the passport option and choose a category such as battery.
- You bind each passport field to a value, from Excel, CSV, an API or typed in, like any other label field.
- When the labels print, LabelInn registers one passport per static product or per item. Registration runs alongside printing and never blocks or changes the print.
- A scan resolves to the passport page. Edit the product's fixed data once in the dashboard and issued passports show it without reprinting.
03 / BATTERY PASSPORT
A checklist for the required fields
For each category LabelInn keeps a list of required fields. The battery list covers 20 fields, such as manufacturer, battery category and chemistry, rated capacity, carbon footprint, recycled content, due diligence and dismantling information, and follows our reading of Annex XIII of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542. Textile and packaging lists exist as well, and the textile list is marked as a draft.
Every registered passport is marked complete, incomplete with the missing fields, or unregulated. This is a completeness check, not a legal opinion, and it is deliberately soft: an incomplete passport still prints.
04 / GS1 DIGITAL LINK
Design the page, use the API
- Passport Studio in the web dashboard: your brand, product photos and ordered sections. Fields you do not place are still shown, so a custom design cannot hide required data.
- REST API and MCP tools to register passports, design the page and read it from your own systems, with the same results as the app. See the label printing API.
05 / DIGITAL PRODUCT PASSPORT
Where it stops
- Not legal advice or certification. The checklist helps you see what is missing. You remain responsible for the content and for meeting the regulation.
- Not a registry connection. LabelInn does not submit passports to an EU or national register.
- The carrier. The in-app passport element prints the Digital Link in a Data Matrix. A QR code, which the Battery Regulation names, is not built into that element yet. The link itself is an ordinary URL.
- No GTINs. They come from GS1 in your country.
QUESTIONS / FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is a digital product passport?
A record about one product, reachable by scanning a code on it. The EU is introducing it through the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, starting with batteries.
When does the battery passport apply?
From 18 February 2027 for electric vehicle batteries, light means of transport batteries and industrial batteries above 2 kWh. Implementing rules are still being finalised, so check official sources for the current state.
Does LabelInn make me compliant?
No. It registers passports when you print, hosts the page, separates public and restricted data and flags missing required fields. Compliance and the content of the passport remain your responsibility.
Can LabelInn print the passport code as a QR code?
Not from the in-app passport element, which currently prints the GS1 Digital Link as a Data Matrix. The Digital Link is an ordinary URL, and the free generator builds a QR code from one.
Does it connect to the EU digital product passport registry?
No. LabelInn hosts the passport page and data itself and does not submit passports to a registry.
KEEP GOING
Related
NEXT STEP / LABELINN
Register your first passport
Print one passport label and scan it to see the page your customers would get. · Passport registered at print time · Public, restricted and private data · Required-field checklist