The EN 18219 / 18221 / 18222 Standards Family

The Digital Product Passport is defined not by a single document but by a complementary family of standards. This family ensures that everyone — from manufacturer to recycler — understands the concept of a "passport" the same way. Here are the core components.

Overview of the family

• EN 18219 — General framework and data model: Defines the passport's overall structure, data categories and core concepts. It is the "constitution" of the family.
• EN 18220 — Data carrier and access: Sets out how the passport is accessed (free, app-free, phone-readable). Details: EN 18220.
• EN 18221 — Unique identification and linking: Governs how the product, carrier and passport are uniquely identified and linked together. GS1 Digital Link plays a key role here.
• EN 18222 — Interoperability: Ensures different systems can read and write passport data in the same form; it is the foundation of machine-readability.

Why a "family"?

Because the passport solves not one problem but several at once:

1. What data is stored? (data model — 18219)
2. How is it accessed? (carrier and access — 18220)
3. With which identity is it defined? (unique ID — 18221)
4. How does it move between systems? (interoperability — 18222)

This separation lets different actors along the supply chain use the same passport for different purposes.

What it means for exporters

Conformance to the standards makes your passport readable and acceptable not only today but in the future. The single most important criterion in choosing a tool is alignment with this family. That the supplied data is verifiable, read alongside what a DPP is, completes the picture.

Frequently asked questions