Digital Product Passport & ESPR glossary
44 plain-English definitions of the regulations, identifiers and standards behind the EU Digital Product Passport — from GTIN and GS1 Digital Link to SVHC, PPWR and Verifiable Credentials.
A
Application Identifier (AI)
A GS1 numeric prefix that tells a scanner what the following data means — e.g. 01 for GTIN, 10 for batch/lot, 21 for serial. AIs are how a GS1 DataMatrix encodes structured data.
B
Battery Management System (BMS)
The electronics that monitor and control a battery pack. Under Article 14 of the Battery Regulation, key BMS data such as State of Health must be accessible; dpp.gs exposes a Bearer-token API for the BMS to post live values.
Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542
The EU regulation replacing the Battery Directive. It introduces the first mandatory digital product passport — required for LMT, industrial (>2 kWh) and EV batteries from 18 February 2027 — covering carbon footprint, recycled content, due diligence, State of Health and disassembly.
C
Carbon footprint class
A performance class (A–G) derived from a product's lifecycle greenhouse-gas emissions. For batteries it is computed from kg CO₂e/kWh per category; dpp.gs assigns the class automatically.
CEN/CENELEC JTC 24
The joint technical committee of the European standards bodies CEN and CENELEC responsible for Digital Product Passport standards — it published the EN 18216–18223 series in May 2026.
CIRPASS
An EU-funded initiative that prepared the ground for the cross-sector Digital Product Passport, defining a common data model and vocabulary. dpp.gs structures its JSON-LD so it can align with the CIRPASS ontology.
Construction Products Regulation (CPR)
EU Regulation 305/2011, being recast as (EU) 2024/3110, governing construction products. It requires a Declaration of Performance and is introducing a digital product passport for construction products.
Content negotiation
An HTTP mechanism where the same URL returns different formats based on the client's Accept header — a phone gets HTML, a system gets JSON-LD. dpp.gs uses it so one passport URL serves both people and machines (EN 18216).
D
Declaration of Conformity (DoC)
A manufacturer's signed statement that a product meets the applicable EU legislation and harmonised standards. dpp.gs can generate a DoC in HTML and JSON (printable to PDF) per Article 18 / Annex IX.
Digital Product Passport (DPP)
A structured, machine-readable record of a product's identity, composition, compliance and circularity data, reachable from a data carrier (usually a QR code). Introduced as a default requirement by the ESPR.
E
Ecodesign for smartphones & tablets (Reg 2023/1670)
An EU regulation, applying from 20 June 2025, setting repairability, durability, battery-endurance, spare-part and software-update requirements for smartphones and tablets — a precursor to a fuller electronics DPP.
Economic operator
Any actor placing a product on the EU market — manufacturer, importer, authorised representative or distributor. The DPP and EU Registry identify the responsible economic operator for each product.
Ed25519
A modern elliptic-curve digital-signature algorithm. dpp.gs signs Verifiable Credentials with an Ed25519 key, so anyone can verify a passport's authenticity offline against the public key — no blockchain.
EN 18216–18223
The first European standards series for the Digital Product Passport (CEN/CENELEC JTC 24, May 2026): identifiers (18219), data carriers (18220), data exchange (18216), lifecycle & search APIs (18222) and interoperability (18223), with prEN 18246 for authentication.
EPREL
The European Product Registry for Energy Labelling — the EU database behind energy labels. dpp.gs stores the EPREL energy class and a deep link for relevant products (e.g. tyres, electronics).
ESPR — Regulation (EU) 2024/1781
The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, in force since 18 July 2024. It is the framework that introduces the Digital Product Passport and lets the Commission set product-specific requirements through delegated acts.
EU DPP Registry
A central registry mandated by ESPR Articles 12–13 that stores key passport identifiers for products placed on the EU market. dpp.gs already captures the registry fields, ready to push when the endpoint opens.
EUDAMED
The European database on medical devices under the MDR. Medical-device passports reference EUDAMED identifiers alongside the UDI.
EUDR — Regulation (EU) 2023/1115
The EU Deforestation Regulation, requiring proof that commodities such as wood are deforestation-free. dpp.gs captures EUDR wood-composition data for furniture passports.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
A policy making producers responsible for the end-of-life of their products, usually via fees to a compliance scheme (PRO). dpp.gs exports product data to EPR formats including Asekol and the Slovak MŽP register.
F
FNC1
A special function character that marks the start of a GS1 element string and separates variable-length fields in a GS1 DataMatrix. It is mandatory for GS1-compliant DataMatrix encoding.
G
Global Location Number (GLN)
A 13-digit GS1 identifier for a physical location or legal entity (e.g. a manufacturer or facility). Used to identify economic operators in a passport.
Global Trade Item Number (GTIN)
The GS1 product identifier behind every barcode (8, 12, 13 or 14 digits). The DPP uses the GTIN you already own as the product's identity — no proprietary ID needed.
GS1 DataMatrix
A 2D barcode that encodes a raw GS1 Application Identifier string (with an FNC1 header) rather than a URL. Used for supply-chain and regulated-product marking; dpp.gs generates one for every product alongside a QR code.
GS1 Digital Link
A web-URI syntax that turns a GTIN into a resolvable URL, e.g. https://dpp.gs/01/{GTIN}, optionally qualified by batch (/10/) and serial (/21/). It lets one QR code serve consumers and link to multiple resources.
J
JSON-LD
JSON for Linked Data — a way to publish data as a machine-interpretable graph using shared vocabularies (schema.org, GS1, a dpp: namespace). dpp.gs serves every passport as JSON-LD for interoperability (EN 18223).
L
Linkset
A document (RFC 9264, application/linkset+json) listing all the links associated with an identifier — manuals, certificates, the passport, etc. A GS1 resolver exposes a linkset so a system can discover every related resource.
M
MDR — Regulation (EU) 2017/745
The EU Medical Device Regulation. Medical-device passports carry risk class, UDI, EUDAMED reference, notified body, clinical evaluation and, for implants, an implant card (Article 18).
Mono-material
Packaging made from a single material family, which is far easier to recycle. The PPWR favours mono-material designs; dpp.gs records a mono-material flag for packaging.
N
Notified Body
An organisation designated by an EU country to assess product conformity before CE marking. dpp.gs supports Bearer-token, cross-tenant, read-only access for notified bodies to a product's test reports.
Nutri-Score
A front-of-pack nutrition label grading food from A to E. dpp.gs stores it alongside the FIC nutrition table for food passports.
P
PFAS
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances ('forever chemicals'). The PPWR restricts PFAS above defined thresholds in food-contact packaging; dpp.gs records PFAS measurement for packaging.
Poison Centre Notification (PCN) & UFI
An EU notification of a hazardous mixture's composition to poison centres, identified by a Unique Formula Identifier (UFI) printed on the label. dpp.gs captures both for chemicals passports.
PPWR — Regulation (EU) 2025/40
The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, applying from 12 August 2026. It sets recyclability grades, recycled-content targets, PFAS restrictions and harmonised QR-based labelling for packaging.
Q
QR code
A 2D barcode that any phone camera can read. In a DPP it encodes the full GS1 Digital Link URL, so scanning opens the passport directly — no app. dpp.gs generates a QR and a GS1 DataMatrix for each product.
R
REACH
EU Regulation 1907/2006 on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. It underpins the SVHC candidate list and substance-of-concern reporting in passports.
Recycled content
The share of a product made from recycled material, a headline circularity metric. dpp.gs records recycled-content percentages with provenance and, for batteries, audited recovery per substance.
Repairability / durability class
An EU score for how easily a product can be repaired — based on disassembly, spare-part availability and price, and repair information. Required for smartphones and tablets under Reg 2023/1670.
RoHS
EU Directive 2011/65 restricting hazardous substances (lead, mercury, cadmium, etc.) in electrical and electronic equipment. dpp.gs records RoHS status for electronics passports, alongside WEEE and REACH.
S
State of Health (SoH)
A measure of a battery's current capacity versus its original capacity, expressed as a percentage. Required for stationary and EV batteries (Article 14); dpp.gs updates it live via the BMS API.
SVHC — Substances of Very High Concern
Chemicals on the ECHA candidate list that pose serious health or environmental risks. Above 0.1% by weight (1000 ppm) they must be declared; dpp.gs structures SVHC reporting (CAS/EC, concentration, location).
U
Unique Device Identification (UDI)
The global identifier system for medical devices (Basic UDI-DI + UDI-DI). dpp.gs carries the UDI and links it to EUDAMED in medical-device passports.
V
Verifiable Credential (VC)
A W3C standard for a tamper-evident, cryptographically signed digital credential. dpp.gs can issue a passport as a VC (vc+jwt, Ed25519) that anyone verifies offline against the public key — no blockchain.
W
WEEE
EU Directive 2012/19 on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, setting collection and recycling obligations for electronics. dpp.gs records WEEE status for electronics passports.
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