Does the product passport for furniture also apply to my business? Furniture is on the list of product groups that the European Commission names as a candidate for a digital product passport, but whether and when that obligation becomes concrete for your business depends on a separate implementation for each product group that the Commission still has to establish. For furniture, that implementation is not yet completed at this time, so a firm obligation with a fixed date does not yet exist.
This does not mean that you can wait and see. As soon as the Commission establishes a delegated regulation for furniture, it will include a concrete date and a list of data that must be included in the passport. Companies that place furniture on the market, have it manufactured or import it would do well to already know where they stand in that chain and what information they already have available.
What the regulation on furniture says
The regulation on digital product passports does not itself impose a passport for any specific product group. It gives the Commission the authority to determine, for each product group, via a separate delegated act, whether a passport is to come, what it must contain and from which moment. Furniture has been named by the Commission as one of the product groups that are eligible for such an implementation, alongside, among others, textiles and batteries. For some of those groups the process has progressed further; for furniture the preparation is ongoing, and there is no established date on which the obligation takes effect.
Why furniture is a broad and still unclear concept
In practice, a wide variety of products fall under the heading of furniture: office chairs, desks, cabinets, kitchens, mattresses. It is currently unclear whether all furniture will eventually fall under a single passport scheme, or whether the Commission will make a distinction between sub-categories with their own requirements and their own implementation dates. That demarcation will only become clear in the delegated regulation itself. Until then, it makes little sense to speculate whether your specific product will count or not.
Who in the furniture chain may be affected by this
The obligations that will eventually apply are linked to a role: manufacturer, importer or another market participant. A company that designs furniture and has it manufactured under its own brand can be considered a manufacturer under the law, even if the actual production takes place elsewhere. A company that sources furniture from outside the EU and places it on the European market can be designated as an importer. Someone who purchases office furniture and only uses it within their own organisation is usually in a different position than someone who resells it or places it on the market under their own name. More on how those roles are distinguished and why that difference matters can be found in the overview of roles and obligations per situation.
What you can do now
A useful first step is to determine which product groups your business operates in, and whether a delegated regulation has already been established or is in preparation for them. For furniture, the latter is the case; for other products in your assortment the situation may have progressed further. In a few questions you can see where your products currently stand, without you having to record anything yet. If you first want to understand what such a passport will look like in practice and where the data comes from, then the explanation of how a passport works gives you a picture of that.
Overlap with rules that already apply
Furniture is already subject to general product safety rules, and depending on the material, to additional rules, for example on wood or on chemical substances in upholstery and paint. A future product passport does not replace those rules, but is in addition to them: the passport unlocks information, it does not replace existing safety or environmental requirements. For the question of how this comes together in your specific case, a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority is and remains the appropriate point of contact.
If you have a concrete question about your own assortment as a result, you may find an answer in the collection of frequently asked questions If you prefer a first indication for your own products instead, the free quick-scan is a logical next step.