Digital product passport timeline: EU dates by sector, Turkey's export exposure and a readiness checklist for manufacturers

The EU digital product passport (DPP) timeline starts with batteries on February 18, 2027, with steel, textiles, aluminium and furniture to follow. Sector dates, Turkey's exports in the affected sectors, an upcycling example from İzmir and a manufacturer checklist.

The European Commission's Digital Product Passport Registry went live with a testing environment on July 20, 2026, pointing to February 18, 2027 as the first implementation deadline, for certain large batteries ^[1]. The digital product passport timeline starts with batteries, but the Commission has already lined up iron and steel, textiles, aluminium, tyres and furniture ^[2]. For a supplier country like Turkey, whose exports to the EU reached $105.9 billion in 2025 ^[3], this timeline belongs on the agenda of production and quality teams now. This article brings together the dates, sector data and a concrete example from İzmir.

What is a digital product passport?

According to an information note from Turkey's Ministry of Trade, the DPP is a mechanism introduced by the EU's Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR, 2024/1781) that allows a product to be tracked across its life cycle, from design to disposal; it can be described as a "digital identity" giving digital access to a product's sustainability, circularity and compliance information ^[4]. The ministry explains the system in two layers ^[4]:

• DPP data: What the passport contains is set by separate rules for each product group.
• DPP system: Common to all product groups; the passport is reached through a unique product identifier embedded in a data carrier (such as a QR code) on the product.

The registry will hold the commodity code and unique product, operator and facility identifiers; the registering operator receives a unique registration identifier to present to customs, which customs authorities can check ^[4]. A public section and a separate section for market surveillance authorities will be split in a way similar to the EPREL energy-label database ^[4].

Digital product passport timeline: Which sector, when?

According to the Commission's indicative timeline, once a sector-specific ESPR delegated act is adopted, economic operators get a transition period of at least 18 months ^[2]. The table below sets the Commission's dates next to our own calculation of the earliest application window under that rule:

Note: The Commission timeline is indicative, and the iron and steel page notes that implementation timelines may evolve ^[2][5]. The third column is our own calculation, adding the minimum 18-month transition to the Commission dates; it is not an official date.

Quotable stat: The EU digital product passport first becomes mandatory on February 18, 2027 for certain batteries; for other sectors, obligations start at least 18 months after the sector's delegated act is adopted ^[1][2].

Why it matters for Turkey: Exports in the affected sectors

According to the Ankara Chamber of Industry's 2025 export report, based on Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) data, Turkey's total exports reached $273.4 billion in 2025 and exports to EU countries $105.9 billion (about 39%) ^[3]. Exports in sectors that overlap with DPP product groups were:

Note: Figures are sector exports to all markets, not the EU share alone. The EU share (39%) is our calculation from 105,862 / 273,434 ^[3].

How Turkey is preparing: The Ministry of Trade

Turkey's Ministry of Trade ran a private-sector DPP survey in July 2026 ^[6] and on October 15, 2026 opened a new survey to collect the questions companies want clarified ^[7]. The ministry also announced that the second phase of CEN-CENELEC/JTC 24's DPP standards is complete ^[8]:

The first six were referenced by Regulation (EU) 2026/1736 ^[8]; the Commission timeline shows November 2026 for the remaining two ^[2]. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1778, which sets the registry's arrangements, was published in the Official Journal of the EU on July 17, 2026 ^[4][9].

A field example: Loading Bag's QR-coded passports in İzmir

According to Egirisim on October 23, İzmir-based upcycling company Loading Bag has added digital product passports to bags it makes from truck tarps, billboard vinyl and textile waste ^[10]. A QR code on each product shows where the material came from, which workshop and person made it, how much of it is upcycled material, carbon and water savings, and fair-wage and women-producer data. The infrastructure was built with Commited.app, and the company has received a strategic investment from Koçulu Holding ^[10]. The report adds that the company uses AI to decide which waste material becomes which product and plans to make its records tamper-proof with blockchain next ^[10].

Managing partner Ergi Şener's words sum up the point of DPPs: "Companies have been describing their sustainability goals for years; what will be decisive now is that these goals have verifiable results." (translated from Turkish) ^[10]

The lesson here is about organizing production data, not the product: which material, which facility, which batch? These questions connect directly to the data backbone we discussed in our posts on digital twins in manufacturing and ISA-95 and MES.

Digital product passport readiness checklist for manufacturers

• Map the products you export to the EU against the DPP product groups (batteries, steel, textiles, aluminium, tyres, furniture, ICT) ^[2]
• Define the unique product identifier and batch/serial logic for each product ^[4][8]
• Clarify your facility and operator identifiers ^[4]
• Locate where material origin, recycled content and component data live (ERP, MES, supplier portal)
• Write into supplier contracts which data you need and in what format
• Plan labelling and packaging for the data carrier (QR, etc.) ^[8]
• Separate trade-secret data from public data (EN 18239) ^[8]
• Decide who signs off on data accuracy and integrity (EN 18246) ^[8]
• Follow official guidance from your trade ministry or EU contact point ^[6][7]
• Start with a digital maturity assessment such as TÜBİTAK DDX+

Frequently asked questions

When does the digital product passport become mandatory?

The first EU obligation starts on February 18, 2027 for certain batteries, including electric-vehicle, light-means-of-transport and industrial batteries ^[1][2].

When will textiles need a digital product passport?

The Commission plans to adopt the textiles delegated act in Q3-Q4 2027, followed by a transition of at least 18 months. The exact date will be set in the act ^[2].

What are the digital product passport requirements?

Each product group's delegated act sets the data; the common system requires a unique product identifier on a data carrier, registry entries with operator and facility identifiers, and access rights for different users ^[4][5].

Are non-EU manufacturers affected?

Manufacturers placing covered products on the EU market will have to meet DPP requirements once the rules for their product group apply. Turkey's Ministry of Trade is following the process through announcements and surveys ^[4][7].

What is the DPP Registry?

An EU-level database that stores unique product identifiers and mandatory registration data. It went live with a testing environment on July 20, 2026 ^[1][2].