What is changing this year for textile products?
For textiles, it has not yet been determined which data must be included in a digital product passport, and there is also no entry date yet. What is settled: textiles are on the list of product groups that the European Commission wants to address first under the framework regulation on ecodesign for sustainable products. This means there is momentum, but no concrete obligation for which you can be held accountable.
The distinction between the framework regulation and its implementation per product group is important here. The framework regulation itself is already in force and describes the general structure: what a digital product passport is, who has which role, and how the Commission may designate product groups. The actual requirements — which data, which format, which thresholds for which type of business — come per product group in a separate delegated act. For batteries, that implementation already exists. For textiles, it does not yet.
Why textiles are on the list
The Commission selects product groups based on environmental impact, market size and the extent to which a passport would add value to existing rules. Textiles score high on this: large volumes, significant imports from outside the EU, and little visibility of origin and material composition further down the supply chain. This makes textiles an obvious candidate, and the Commission's initial work plans explicitly mention the sector.
For an importer of, for example, workwear, uniforms or interior textiles, this mainly means that the sector is on the radar, not that an obligation already exists. Supervisory authorities in the Netherlands and elsewhere in the EU only enforce once the delegated act is in place and the deadline mentioned in it has passed. Until then, there is no legal obligation to maintain a passport for textile products, however the preparation proceeds.
What is not yet settled
There are quite a few assumptions in practice about textiles that the regulation itself does not confirm: a fixed entry date, a minimum company size for exemptions, or a list of mandatory data fields. These are topics that will only be established in the delegated act, and that act does not yet exist for textiles. Anyone who now makes a concrete plan for textiles based on a supposed deadline is basing themselves on something that is not yet in the official text.
That is also why it is useful to consult the source itself rather than rely on hearsay. On the knowledge base per product group per topic you find the short answer, a risk indication and the reference in the official text on EUR-Lex, so you can verify what is actually settled and what is still in development.
What you can do now
Even without a fixed date, there is something to do. Companies that import or place textiles on the market often already have a long-standing need for an overview of material composition, origin and repairability of their products, for example for their own sustainability reporting or to answer customer questions. That foundation — which data do you actually already have, and where is it stored — is the same foundation that will later be needed once textiles becomes a mandatory product group.
With a few questions to see where your products currently stand you get a first indication without obligations of which product groups are relevant for your company and which are not yet. That is not legal advice, but it is a starting point for having an internal discussion about what you already record and what is still missing.
How to stay informed
Because the delegated act for textiles has yet to be adopted, this is a subject where it is especially important to know when something does change. If you want to know how the information on prodpas.eu is created and kept up to date, you can read about that on the page about how we collect and maintain current information. For specific questions about your own situation, a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority remains the appropriate contact point; we describe what the regulation says, but do not make judgments about individual cases.
Are you curious whether textiles, or another product group, already requires something from you? Do the free quick-scan or browse through the topics in the knowledge base — both give you a first, concrete picture of where you stand without any obligations.