Selling into the EU from outside it still needs a passport

A common assumption outside the EU is that the digital product passport (DPP) is a European problem for European manufacturers. It is not. It is a border requirement, and borders apply to everyone crossing them.

What the rule says

The passport is mandatory for all products imported into the EU market where a delegated act under the Ecodesign Regulation requires that product to have one. The economic operator responsible for placing the product on the EU market must ensure the passport is present.

The passport has to be active and registered before customs can release imported goods for free circulation. There is no separate regime for goods made elsewhere and no exemption based on where the manufacturer is established.

Online marketplaces will need to make passports accessible if they sell into the EU, and market surveillance authorities will monitor marketplaces to identify non-compliant products. Failure to comply can lead to penalties or removal of the product from the EU market.

Who carries the obligation, and where liability lands

The duty falls on the economic operator placing the product on the market, which for imports is usually the importer or the authorised representative rather than the non-EU manufacturer.

That has a consequence worth spelling out for both sides.

For the non-EU manufacturer: your EU importer cannot comply without data only you hold. Composition, origin, facility identification. If you cannot supply it, your importer cannot sell your product, which ends the commercial relationship regardless of who the law names.

For the EU importer: you carry a legal obligation that depends entirely on a supplier outside your jurisdiction. Consumer compensation claims run against the manufacturer, or against the importer or authorised representative where the manufacturer is not established in the Union. That liability sits with you, and it is created by data you did not compile.

Both sides have the same practical conclusion: the data arrangement has to be contractual, explicit and in place well before the deadline.

Is this a trade barrier?

The Commission's position is that the passport adheres to WTO rules, applied in a non-discriminatory, proportionate and transparent manner: the same requirements apply to EU and non-EU products alike. In the longer term the argument is that harmonised product data standards facilitate trade rather than restrict it.

Whether one finds that persuasive is beside the point commercially. The requirement exists, and selling into the EU and being ready for the EU are now the same thing.

What to do on each side of the border

If you manufacture outside the EU, find out which of your EU customers face a passport obligation and when, then ask what data they will need from you. That question arrives eventually; asking first is cheap and reads well.

If you import into the EU, audit your non-EU suppliers on their ability to evidence passport data, and put the obligation into supply agreements. A supplier who cannot document material origin today will not be able to in 2027 either.

If you sell through marketplaces, confirm how your passport will be surfaced on their product pages, since accessibility there is part of the requirement.

Sources

• European Commission, *Digital Product Passport: FAQ*, January 2026 update, questions 11, 28, 29
• and 30.
• Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR).