Glossary · Overview
Digital product passport vs. product transparency rules in the USA, Canada and China
Also known as: DPP global comparison, product passport comparison, product transparency rules comparison
The digital product passport (DPP) is the EU's horizontal, product-group-based record of product information under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. The USA, Canada and China have no equivalent passport; they reach product and supply-chain transparency through sector rules, import controls, reporting duties and national traceability platforms.
- EU
- USA
- Canada
- China
- DPP
In one sentence
The EU DPP is a horizontal product-information layer; the USA, Canada and China rely on sector traceability, import and reporting rules instead.
Example
A furniture maker exporting to all four markets may prepare passport data for the EU, forced-labor supply-chain evidence for US imports, a supply chain report for Canada and product identifiers for Chinese industrial platforms, all fed from the same master data.
How the four jurisdictions compare
| EU | USA | Canada | China | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | ESPR, Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, plus the Battery Regulation | No federal DPP law; sector and trade rules such as the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the Drug Supply Chain Security Act and state packaging laws | No DPP law; the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act and the Federal Plastics Registry | No general DPP law; traceability rules for new energy vehicle batteries and a national industrial identifier system |
| Scope | Product groups defined one by one in delegated acts; batteries by law | Specific sectors, goods of specific origin, packaging in certain states | Reporting entities and plastic producers | Specific sectors, above all power batteries |
| What is carried | Product-group data such as materials, substances of concern, repair, recycling and compliance information, reached through a data carrier | Supply-chain evidence, package-level serial data, producer reports | Annual reports and registry data | Battery codes and lifecycle records, product identifiers |
| Data access | Tiered: partly public, partly restricted to authorities or business partners (access rights) | Mostly to authorities and trading partners | Reports published; registry data partly public | Mostly to authorities and platform participants |
| Relation to safety and conformity law | Runs alongside product safety and conformity law; does not replace the technical file | Separate from product safety law | Separate from product safety law | Separate from product safety and certification rules |
| Status (as of September 2026) | Framework in force; product-specific requirements depend on delegated acts; battery passport applies from February 18, 2027 | Rules in force sector by sector; no federal passport planned | Reporting in force; no passport | Battery platform in place since 2018; national DPP pilots discussed, status to be checked |
How it applies
- Global products: Companies selling in several markets rarely need four separate data sets. A well-governed source of truth can feed the EU passport and the traceability evidence other markets ask for.
- Scope check: The EU passport only applies to a product group once its delegated act (or, for batteries, the Battery Regulation) requires it. Check the product-group rules and dates rather than assuming that a passport is required today.
- Technical documentation: In none of the four jurisdictions does passport or traceability data replace safety documentation, declarations or instructions for use.
- AI and retrieval: Tag product-information content by jurisdiction and legal basis. A question about “product passport duties” has a different answer in each market.
DPP vs. traceability rules
The EU DPP is horizontal in design: one framework, filled product group by product group. The other three jurisdictions regulate vertically — a rule for pharmaceuticals, a rule for imports of certain origin, a rule for batteries. The result can look similar in one sector, but only the EU is building a general, partly public product-information layer.