EU Textile & Apparel
Digital Product Passport
From January 2028, every textile and apparel product placed on the EU market requires a Digital Product Passport. As an importer or brand, the legal obligation sits with you — not your manufacturer.
What a textile DPP must contain
Under the ESPR delegated act for textiles (apparel, footwear, and home furnishing textiles), a compliant DPP must expose the following data fields — verified, machine-readable, and accessible via QR code or GS1 Digital Link.
Product Identification
Unique product identifier (GTIN or UUID), batch/lot number, model name, and GS1 Digital Link URI encoded into a QR code.
MandatoryManufacturer / Importer
Legal name, registered address, and EU economic operator (importer or authorised representative) contact details.
MandatoryMaterial Composition
Fibre content by weight % (e.g. 60% recycled polyester, 40% organic cotton), including recycled and bio-based content fractions.
MandatoryCountry of Origin
Country where each manufacturing stage occurred: raw material, spinning/weaving, dyeing/finishing, and final assembly.
MandatoryHazardous Substances
REACH-restricted substances list, whether the product contains substances of very high concern (SVHCs) above 0.1% by weight.
MandatoryDurability & Repairability
Expected product lifetime, repairability score (1–10), availability of spare parts, and minimum years of repair service coverage.
MandatoryMicroplastic Release
For synthetic textiles: estimated microplastic release per wash cycle (mg/kg) and whether the product has a microplastics-reducing filter recommendation.
MandatoryCarbon Footprint
Product carbon footprint in kg CO₂e per unit across the full lifecycle (scope 1, 2, and 3 — including raw material extraction and manufacturing).
RecommendedEnd-of-Life & Recyclability
Care and sorting instructions, recycling code, whether the product is mono-material or multi-material, and take-back or collection points.
MandatoryBuilt for fashion & apparel supply chains
Textile supply chains are long, multi-country, and seasonal. PassportLab is designed to collect data from overseas factories, validate it against the EU schema, and publish a verifiable passport — without requiring your suppliers to adopt any new software.
Supplier data collection without onboarding suppliers
Collect fibre composition, origin, and certification data via a simple web form. Your factories in Bangladesh, Vietnam, or Turkey don't need any account.
Shopify & WooCommerce sync
Import your product catalogue directly from Shopify or WooCommerce. Existing product data maps automatically to the EU textile DPP schema.
24 EU languages — one passport
The EU ESPR requires DPP information in the language of the country where a product is sold. PassportLab stores all 24 official EU language versions in a single passport.
Cryptographic signing & tamper-proof audit trail
Every DPP is signed with Ed25519 and stored with an immutable hash-chained audit log. Regulators and customs authorities can cryptographically verify the data has not been altered.
Key dates for textile DPP compliance
Start gathering fibre composition, supplier origin, and certification data from your supply chain. The earlier you start, the easier the Phase 1 deadline.
The European Commission is expected to publish the final delegated regulation specifying mandatory data fields for apparel and footwear.
Digital Product Passports become mandatory for textiles and apparel sold on the EU market. Non-compliant products may be blocked at customs or recalled from shelves.
Extended requirements including Tier 3–4 supply chain depth, full lifecycle carbon calculations, and integration with EU circular economy tracking systems.
Source: ESPR (EU) 2024/1781 delegated acts and the European Commission ESPR Working Plan 2022–2024. View full deadline table →
Textile DPP — FAQ
Does the textile DPP regulation apply to me as an importer?
Yes. Under the ESPR and the Blue Guide, the importer placing goods on the EU market is treated as the legal manufacturer for compliance purposes. If your supplier is based in China, Bangladesh, Turkey, or elsewhere outside the EU, the DPP obligation falls entirely on you.
What fibre types must be declared in a textile DPP?
All fibres present at 1% or more by weight must be listed with their exact percentage. This includes natural fibres (cotton, wool, linen), synthetic fibres (polyester, nylon, acrylic), recycled content fractions (recycled polyester, recycled cotton), and any blended or bi-component fibre.
Do I need a separate DPP for each SKU, or can one DPP cover a product range?
The ESPR requires a DPP at the product model level — not per individual item for Phase 1. One DPP can cover all units of the same product model (e.g., a jacket in all sizes and colours). Item-level serialisation becomes mandatory in later phases.
What happens if my textile product is not DPP-compliant by January 2028?
Non-compliant products can be refused entry at EU customs, blocked from sale by national market surveillance authorities, or recalled from EU shelves. Fines are set at national level but member states are required to implement 'effective, proportionate and dissuasive' penalties.
Can I use PassportLab for seasonal product ranges that change every 6 months?
Yes. PassportLab is built for high-SKU, high-turnover businesses. You can bulk-create or bulk-update passports via API or Shopify/WooCommerce sync. Each seasonal update is logged in an immutable audit trail without overwriting historical records.
Does PassportLab validate that my DPP meets the EU textile schema?
Yes. PassportLab validates your passport data against the category-specific schema for textiles before publishing. If mandatory fields are missing or values are out of range, the system flags the issue before the DPP goes live.
Ready to test your textile DPP?
Generate a live, shareable Digital Product Passport for any textile product in 2 minutes — no account needed.