What documents do you need for the digital product passport for textiles?
For the digital product passport for textiles, it generally concerns four types of documents: basic data about the product itself, certifications and test reports on materials used, documentation on sustainability claims such as recycled content percentages, and data on the origin of the material throughout the supply chain. Which documents are precisely mandatory depends on the product category classification that the textile regulation applies and on the implementing legislation that goes with it.
What distinguishes textiles from, for example, furniture or electronics, is that a single garment or interior textile is often composed of material supplied through multiple links: a spinning mill, a weaving mill, a dyeing facility and a garment factory can each be located in a different country. This makes gathering conclusive documentation per batch the part that takes the most time, and where companies most frequently encounter gaps.
Product information that forms the basis
The core of the passport consists of data that you probably already record for other purposes: fiber composition, country of manufacture, weight, and the technical specifications that also appear on a care label or product label. This data is usually quickly obtainable from your own records or from the direct supplier.
Certifications and test reports
In addition, the regulation requires documents demonstrating that chemicals used remain within the permitted limits, and test reports that are relevant to the product category. This relates to existing legislation on chemical substances, and it is therefore advisable to place these documents alongside existing REACH documentation rather than draw them up anew. A lawyer or the competent supervisory authority can indicate which test reports are expected for a specific type of textile.
The detail that matters most in textiles: origin per batch
Textiles are more often than other product categories sourced from mixed batches: a delivery can consist partly of recycled material and partly of virgin material, sometimes even within a single roll of fabric. A claim about the recycled content percentage is then only defensible if it is substantiated per batch, and not as an average over an entire annual order. The same applies to origin claims: if the passport states that a fabric was woven in a specific country, this must be traceable to the batch that was actually supplied, not to the usual practice at that supplier.
This is precisely the point where documentation often proves incomplete: the direct supplier provides a general statement, but not the underlying documents from the dyer or spinner behind it. For companies working with multiple links in the chain, it is worthwhile to determine in advance which link can and will supply which evidence, rather than discover this only when the passport needs to be compiled.
Where these documents come from
In practice, part of this documentation comes from your own production department, part from the direct supplier, and part further back in the chain. If you are mapping this for the first time, it is advisable to start by asking what role your own company plays in that chain, as this also determines which documents you yourself must supply and which you must request from others. review the knowledge bank per product category provides an overview of this, as does the discussion you have with your software supplier about which fields in the passport are filled in and on the basis of which source document.
Make an initial assessment
Whether your company needs these specific documents for textiles depends on the exact product classification and the role you play in the supply chain. You can get an initial indication by answering a few questions to show where you stand. For questions that frequently arise for this product group, there is also an overview with answers to frequently asked questions, and if you want to know where the underlying information comes from, you can read that back on the page about how the data is generated.
For the precise obligations that apply to your product, the official text of the regulation or the advice of a lawyer remains the starting point. This article provides an overview of what is typically requested, not a statement about your specific situation.
Do you want to know which documents are specifically needed for your textile product? Take the free quick-scan or browse through the topics in the knowledge bank to read further in a targeted way.