Authenticate the Digital Product Passport.

A passport link says where the data is. A seal proves who issued it and that nobody changed it.

Plain QR link

TEST

Sealed label (TEST sample)

Transparency without authentication invites counterfeits

The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation makes product data available through a data carrier on the product. A plain code can be copied, reprinted or replaced, so the passport alone cannot prove a product is what it claims.

Plain QR link compared with a Visible Digital Seal
Property	Plain QR	VDS
Can be copied or reprintedA copied seal still names the real issuer, but the data cannot be changed.
Tampered data detected
Issuer proven
Verifiable offline
Standardised (ISO 22376, ISO 22385)
Readable by any phone cameraNo-app reading needs a web-address carrier, to confirm.

The regulatory clock

Dates from the VDSIC position paper of 25 February 2026.

2027-2030
Electronics and ICT, phased
2027
Textiles and aluminium
2027-02Next deadline
Battery passports mandatory
2026-07In force
EU central DPP registry deployed
2024-07In force
ESPR enters into force

Standards we are tracking

Draft EN 18246 (DPP authentication). A secondary source lists VDS (ISO 22376) among four compliant methods. To confirm with the draft text.
EN 18220 (data carriers). Requires a code a normal phone can read without installing an app. The seal must then travel in a web-address carrier. To confirm with KB036.