IMPORT GUIDE

The Digital Product Passport at the EU Border: What Customs Will Check

Published 25.09.2026 · Reading time ~5 min · by Lior Gabriel Graetz · LG Fashion Labs

1. The rule in Article 15

Article 15(1) ESPR: "Any person intending to place a product covered by a delegated act … under the customs procedure 'release for free circulation' shall provide or make available to customs authorities the unique registration identifier of that product referred to in Article 13(5)." This applies "from the moment the registry is operational."

Under Article 15(2), customs may release the product "only after having verified as a minimum that the unique registration identifier … and the commodity code provided or made available to them correspond to the data stored in the registry." That verification is to "take place electronically and automatically via the interconnection" between registry and customs systems, and applies "from the moment that interconnection is operational."

Release for free circulation "shall not be deemed to be proof of compliance with this Regulation or other Union law." Recital 44 gives the purpose: "This would allow customs authorities to verify that a digital product passport for imported products exists."

2. Where the identifier comes from: the DPP registry

Article 13 ESPR required the Commission to set up the registry by 19 July 2026. It stores "at least the unique identifiers" and, for goods intended for release for free circulation, the commodity code. The Commission launched it on 20 July 2026 with a testing environment, and refers to a "current testing phase" ahead of the first implementation deadline (18 February 2027, certain large batteries). The operator placing the product on the market uploads the data (Article 13(4)) and the registry returns a unique registration identifier; that communication "shall not be deemed to be proof of compliance" (Article 13(5)). See our registry guide.

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1778, in force since 6 August 2026, sets the rules. The passport is registered by a "verified economic operator placing the product on the market or putting it into service" (Article 8(1)). The Commission's automatic checks include, where relevant, "the validity of the commodity code of the product in relation to the permitted ranges for this product group" (Article 8(7)).

Delegated acts must list each product group's commodity codes (Article 8(a)), and the passport itself may carry "relevant commodity codes, such as a TARIC code" and the importer's "Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number" (Annex III, points (d) and (j)).

3. Who is responsible for the registration

The Commission's DPP FAQ (question 11) says a passport "must be active and registered when a product is placed on the EU market" and, for imports, "before they can be released for free circulation by customs authorities." Depending on where the product is made, it names "the manufacturer, the authorised representative, the importer, the distributor, the dealer or the fulfilment service provider" as responsible for creating the DPP and registering its identifiers.

ESPR requires importers to ensure a passport is available "including a back-up copy of the most up-to-date version of the digital product passport stored by a digital product passport service provider" (Article 29(2)(c)). Under Article 34, importers and distributors are "considered manufacturers" where they place a product on the market under their own name or trademark, or modify one already on the market in a way that affects compliance.

4. What customs can see, and what happens to a stopped product

Customs authorities have access to the registry (Article 13(6)) and may "retrieve and use the data included in the digital product passport and the registry", including for "risk management, customs controls and release for free circulation" (Article 15(4)). Article 15(4) refers to the current Union Customs Code, Regulation (EU) No 952/2013; from 21 September 2027, when the new Code (Regulation (EU) 2026/2108) applies, references to Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 "shall be construed as references to this Regulation" (Articles 284(1) and 287(2) of Regulation (EU) 2026/2108). Checking whether the content is right is a different job: "The verification of the substantive correctness of the data registered remains a task for the market surveillance authorities under the applicable Union rules" (recital 16, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1778).

For a stopped product, recital 102 ESPR says Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, the "horizontal framework for market surveillance and control of products entering the Union market", should apply, insofar as ESPR has no specific provisions "with the same objective, nature or effect". Under it, authorities "shall suspend the release" where, for example, a product "is not accompanied by the documentation required by the Union law applicable to it" (Article 26(1)(a)). Where market surveillance authorities conclude that a product may not be placed on the market because it does not comply with the applicable Union law, they require the authorities designated under Article 25(1) not to release it (Article 28(2)). See our penalties guide.

5. Timeline: what is live and what is scheduled

6. Reading these rules together

Article 15 has three conditions, each with its own date. A delegated act must cover the product: for the textile (apparel) delegated act, no adoption date has been fixed; the Commission's DPP timeline lists Q3–Q4 2027 and its textile-apparel page lists Q4 2027, both marked indicative, and the textile-apparel page adds that implementation timelines "may evolve as legislative and technical work progresses." A registered passport must exist: the registry launched on 20 July 2026. And the automatic check needs the interconnection, which Article 15(3) requires within four years of the entry into force of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1778 on 6 August 2026, that is, by 6 August 2030. A footnote in the Commission's FAQ says "expected around 2029"; the legal text is the four-year rule.

ESPR Article 4(4) provides that a delegated act's date of application shall not be earlier than 18 months from its entry into force, except in duly justified cases; for an act adopted in the second half of 2027 that means 2029 at the earliest (our calculation, not a date the Commission has published). An importer is "any natural or legal person established in the Union that places a product from a third country on the Union market" (Article 2(44)), which brings it within the "operator placing the product on the market" that Article 8(1) of the Implementing Regulation names as the registrant.

The texts reviewed do not yet specify which commodity codes a textiles act will list, how the identifier is entered in a customs declaration, or the arrangements for the registry–customs interconnection, which recital 113(b) lists among the matters for Commission implementing powers. Regulation 2026/1778 does not mention EU CSW-CERTEX.

Sources

• Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for sustainable products (ESPR). Cited: Articles 2(44), 4(4), 8(a), 13, 15, 29(2)(c) and 34; Annex III, points (d) and (j); recitals 44, 102 and 113.
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1778 of 16 July 2026 laying down the implementation arrangements for the digital product passport registry. Cited: Articles 8(1) and 8(7); recital 16. Entry into force on 6 August 2026 per the EUR-Lex record.
• Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products, consolidated version of 12 August 2026. Cited: Articles 25(1), 26(1)(a) and 28(2).
• European Commission, Digital Product Passport: indicative DPP timeline (adoption of the ESPR delegated acts for textiles, aluminium and tyres: Q3–Q4 2027).
• European Commission, Frequently Asked Questions on the Digital Product Passport (DPP): question 11 and footnotes.
• European Commission, Textile Apparel and the Digital Product Passport (DPP): indicative implementation timeline (planned adoption of the ESPR delegated act for textiles: Q4 2027).
• European Commission, Communication COM(2025) 187 final of 16 April 2025, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products and Energy Labelling Working Plan 2025-2030: sections 2.2.1 (indicative timeline for adoption, textiles/apparel: 2027) and 2.2.3 (footwear as a separate product category).
• European Commission, The Digital Product Passport Registry is now live, news announcement of 20 July 2026.

All sources were accessed and verified directly on EUR-Lex and the European Commission's Digital Product Passport pages on 25 September 2026; the statements on the timing of adoption of the textile (apparel) delegated act were revised after re-checking those Commission pages and the Working Plan on 13 October 2026. This is general information, not legal, financial or investment advice.