How US Brands Can Prepare for Digital Product Passports

The Digital Product Passport (DPP) initiative coming out of the European Union is already reshaping how brands think about product data. While its initial enforcement will be in the EU, U.S. brands shouldn't assume they can wait on the sidelines. If you sell into Europe (or plan to) you’ll be impacted. Even if you don’t, once a standard like this takes root in one region, it tends to set expectations everywhere.

In 2022, NielsenIQ’s study on transparency and sustainability revealed that 75 percent of consumers consider transparency important and two-thirds are willing to switch to brands that prioritize it. Consumers are beginning to demand this transparency, so my advice to brands is simple: preparation starts with product data quality.

Product Data Quality is Always the Answer

At its heart, the DPP is a framework for transparency, ensuring consumers, regulators, and partners can trust the information that travels with a product across its lifecycle. If your data is inaccurate, incomplete or inconsistent, you will struggle. By investing in centralized product information management, automated data enrichment, and strong governance practices today, you’ll build the foundation needed to adapt to the requirements tomorrow.

High-quality data doesn’t just check compliance boxes; it also improves customer trust and strengthens brand reputation. In our research with the University of Manchester and the University of Essex, consumers responded best to sustainability information that's easy to understand at a glance, like food labels or energy scores. Modern shoppers appreciate this brevity as long as it's backed by the option to scan a QR code or visit a website for more detail.

Resellers Must Partner With Suppliers

Preparation for DPP isn’t only the manufacturer’s responsibility. Resellers, distributors, and retailers have a crucial role to play. They should be engaging suppliers early and often, setting clear expectations for what “good data” looks like. That means providing structured requirements — attribute lists, data formats, image standards, and sustainability metrics — so suppliers understand what’s needed before a single shipment is made. Strong partnerships here reduce friction down the line. The brands that succeed will be those that foster a collaborative data ecosystem rather than leaving suppliers to figure it out on their own.

Data Quality as a Standard Requirement

Just as safety certifications or barcodes became non-negotiables in the past, data quality will soon be a standard requirement when supplying goods. Brands that treat data as an afterthought risk falling behind. Procurement teams are already starting to evaluate potential partners not just on price and availability, but on their ability to deliver compliant product data. We’ll see supplier scorecards evolve to include data accuracy metrics alongside delivery times and defect rates. That’s not an abstract future, it’s something that’s beginning to happen now.

The Risks of Poor Data Quality

The consequences of poor data quality under DPP cannot be overstated. Products may be refused at customs if the required passport data is incomplete. Brands could face fines or penalties for failing to meet reporting obligations. In worst-case scenarios, repeat offenders could even see their goods banned from sale in critical markets.

Beyond regulatory enforcement, there’s also the commercial cost. If your competitor’s product has a rich, transparent data passport and yours doesn’t, guess which one the buyer is more likely to trust? Poor data doesn’t just slow you down, it puts you at a strategic disadvantage.

Why Starting Early Matters

According to research from GS1 UK, many businesses in the UK remain unprepared: only 16 percent of managers or higher believe they're fully prepared for DPP, a number that's likely even lower in the U.S. Building strong product data practices isn’t something you can scramble to do at the last minute. It requires investment in technology, processes and culture. Systems need to be put in place to capture and manage attributes across the supply chain, teams need training to understand new responsibilities, and companies need to map how data flows internally and externally so they can meet transparency demands. The earlier brands start this work, the smoother the transition will be.

Tim Bodill is vice president, enterprise and digital product passport at Pimberly, an enterprise product information management (PIM) platform.