regulations

DPP Beyond ESPR: Forced Labour Guidelines and Public Procurement

Two Commission guidance texts from late August 2026 mention the DPP: forced labour investigations and NZIA procurement. What they say, and what they do not.

9/6/2026 · 7 min read · InfoDPP

What this is, and what it is not: the two documents discussed below are Commission guidance notices published in the C series of the Official Journal. They explain how existing regulations should be applied. They do not create a new DPP obligation, do not change any DPP deadline and do not add data fields to any passport. Their significance is different: official Commission guidance outside the ESPR and battery track treats the Digital Product Passport as an identification and evidence tool.

Two Guidance Texts in One Week

Between 31 August and 3 September 2026, two Commission guidance texts on subjects other than ecodesign appeared in the Official Journal. One concerns the ban on products made with forced labour. The other concerns public procurement of net-zero technologies. Both mention the Digital Product Passport, and both do so in the same role: as a way to identify a product and to access verifiable data about it.

The planned apparel-textile GPP initiative is another item to monitor. It is not a binding act and does not itself create procurement criteria or DPP duties.

1. The Forced Labour Regulation Guidelines

Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 prohibits placing on the EU market, making available and exporting products made with forced labour. It applies from 14 December 2027. The Commission and national competent authorities will run investigations; customs authorities will enforce decisions at the border. The Commission adopted its guidelines on applying the regulation on 26 June 2026 (Commission Notice C(2026) 4386, published on its portal on 30 June) and published them in the Official Journal on 3 September 2026 (OJ C/2026/4637).

The guidelines contain a practical section on the information an investigating authority may gather or request. Section 4.7.3.1, on identification of the product, lists the usual identifiers: HS and CN codes, type, reference, model, batch or serial number on the product, its packaging or accompanying documents. The same list then adds the unique identifier of the digital product passport. The section also lists product traceability evidence, including chain-of-custody certificates and raw-material traceability data, documentation linking the finished product to its raw-material source, and bills of materials.

Why this matters

The DPP identifier becomes an official reference point. Where a product carries a passport, its unique product identifier is now explicitly among the data an authority may use to pin down which product an allegation concerns.
Traceability data in a passport becomes usable evidence. Where the applicable product rule requires origin, supplier or material data in the DPP, that structured record can support a company’s answer to an information request. Where it does not, the DPP proves nothing about forced labour.
The documents take a consistent approach. The customs chapter of the ESPR, the March 2026 answer to Parliament on customs enforcement and now the forced labour guidelines all treat the passport identifier as the reference point for cross-checking a product.

These guidelines create no due diligence obligation. Such duties arise only where a separate applicable law, such as the CSDDD as transposed nationally or the Batteries Regulation, requires them. A DPP can support evidence but does not certify a supply chain as free from forced labour.

2. The Net-Zero Industry Act Guidance on Article 25

Article 25 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735, the Net-Zero Industry Act, requires contracting authorities to apply resilience and sustainability criteria when they buy net-zero technologies such as batteries, solar panels, heat pumps and electrolysers. The resilience criterion depends on knowing where a final product and its main specific components come from. On 31 August 2026 the Commission published guidance on how that proof of origin should work (Communication, OJ C/2026/4623).

The guidance first lists conventional documentary evidence: invoices, product identifiers and serial numbers, name plates, certificates of origin, bills of lading, bills of material, factory inspection certificates and manufacturing execution systems. It then states that contracting authorities should progressively rely on digital traceability systems that verify origin and supply chains in a secure and interoperable way, and that this could in the future also include Digital Product Passports.

How to read it

The guidance does not create a DPP requirement for tenders. It describes possible future use of passports. This is not a general ban on requesting digital evidence under applicable procurement rules. Mandatory passports for covered batteries start on 18 February 2027.
A passport may support evidence of origin. Its data are useful only insofar as they establish the origin of the relevant product and components. A passport does not automatically prove compliance with NZIA resilience requirements or replace missing component-level evidence.
One caveat when reading the text. In the battery example the guidance refers to Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 as the Batteries Regulation. Regulation 2024/1781 is the ESPR; the Batteries Regulation is Regulation (EU) 2023/1542. Use the correct regulation number in your own documentation.

3. The Third Signal: GPP Criteria for Apparel Textiles

ESPR Article 65 allows the Commission to establish mandatory green public procurement requirements for products covered by ecodesign delegated acts. On 28 August 2026, the Commission published its initiative for sustainable and circular apparel textiles. Adoption of the implementing act is planned for Q4 2027. This is a work schedule, not the date on which new requirements will start to apply.

Any relationship between future procurement criteria and textile DPP data must be checked in the actual drafts and adopted acts. Do not infer a binding dataset or application date from the initiative alone.

What This Does and Does Not Mean

No new DPP obligation, deadline or data field is introduced by these three documents.
The guidelines are non-binding and do not alter the regulations. Binding interpretation of EU law belongs to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The forced labour guidelines apply to all products, passport or not. The DPP identifier is one identification route among several.
Any use of DPP data in procurement depends on their availability, relevance and the applicable tender rules, not solely on whether a passport is legally mandatory.
For textiles, monitor the GPP initiative and verify its current stage, draft criteria and timetable in the official documents.

What to Do Now

Keep product and passport identifiers consistently linked. Where your product will carry a passport, ensure that identifiers on the product, packaging and documents lead to the correct passport and Registry entry. The Registry’s unique registration identifier (URID) is separate; do not treat every identifier as the same value.
Keep origin and material data in structured form. Plant, supplier and material records used for a passport may also be relevant to an investigation or public tender, depending on its scope and the information requested.
Do not sell the passport as proof of clean sourcing. It can carry traceability data; it does not certify working conditions.
Check where public procurement touches your business. If you sell net-zero technologies or apparel to public buyers, follow the NZIA guidance and the Article 65 initiative alongside the product delegated acts.
Watch the forced labour timeline. Application starts on 14 December 2027, ten months after the battery passport becomes mandatory.

FAQ

Does the Forced Labour Regulation require a Digital Product Passport?

No. Regulation (EU) 2024/3015 applies to all products regardless of whether they carry a passport. The guidelines (adopted in June 2026, published in the Official Journal in September) only list the unique identifier of the DPP among the pieces of information that can identify a product in an investigation.

Can a public buyer already demand a DPP under the Net-Zero Industry Act?

The guidance itself does not impose a DPP requirement. Whether a buyer may request a particular digital record must be assessed under applicable procurement rules; the absence of a statutory passport duty is not a general prohibition.

What is ESPR Article 65?

It empowers the Commission to set mandatory green public procurement requirements for products covered by ESPR delegated acts. A planned initiative is not itself a binding implementing act.

Official Sources

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