DPP Granularity, Explained

Model, Batch or Item-Level DPP — Which One Will Your Garments Need?

The ESPR recognises three granularities for a Digital Product Passport: model (one passport for all identical units of a product), batch (one per production run) and item (one per physical unit). Which level applies to apparel is not fixed in the regulation — Article 9(2)(d) of ESPR (EU) 2024/1781 leaves it to each product group’s delegated act, and the textile act is expected in 2027. The practical strategy: structure data at model level now, keep batch and item identifiers ready.

Written by Nazrul Islam, Founder, DPPLive · Last updated: 16 July 2026

Model
One passport per style
Covers every unit sharing the same technical characteristics — in garment terms, a style/SKU. Lightest to operate: one record, one QR artwork per style. Composition, origin and care data usually live naturally at this level.
Lowest cost
Batch
One passport per production run
Covers a subset of a model produced in one plant at one point in time — a lot or PO. Matters when data genuinely varies by run: dye lots, fabric sources, factory allocation, per-batch carbon footprint.
Traceability sweet spot
Item
One passport per garment
A serialised record per physical unit — required where individual history matters: authentication, resale, repair logs, warranties. Needs serialised GS1 Digital Link QR codes and item-level printing discipline.
Highest granularity
What the regulation actually says

Article 9(2)(d): the delegated acts shall specify “whether the digital product passport is to be established at model, batch or item level, and the definition of those levels”. The ESPR’s recitals frame this as cost-proportionality — the passport should sit at the level that avoids costs disproportionate to the benefits. For textiles, that decision lands with the apparel delegated act expected in 2027.

Precedent
Batteries chose item level
The first mandatory passport — the EU battery passport under Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, applying from 18 February 2027 — is item-level, with carbon data at plant-and-batch granularity. Expect regulators to reach for finer granularity where value and risk are high.
Strategy
Build model-first, batch-ready
Hold your master data per style (composition, origin, care, substances via REACH/SVHC fields), attach batch attributes per PO (lot, plant, dates, footprint), and keep the identifier design able to serialise. Whatever 2027 fixes, you ship data without re-engineering.
Identifiers
The level lives in the ID
Model level rides on a GTIN; batch adds a lot reference; item adds a serial — all expressible in one GS1 Digital Link QR. Getting the identifier architecture right first makes the level a configuration choice, not a rebuild.
Granularity FAQ

Quick Answers

Which DPP level will apparel need — model, batch or item?
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Not fixed yet. ESPR Article 9(2)(d) leaves the choice to each product group's delegated act, and the apparel/textile delegated act is expected in 2027. Structuring data at model level now, with batch and item fields ready, covers every outcome.
Does one DPP per SKU mean one per garment?
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No. A model-level passport covers every identical unit of a style/SKU; batch level covers the units of one production run; only item level means one passport per physical garment, each with a serialised identifier.
What level does the battery passport use?
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The EU battery passport (Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, mandatory from 18 February 2027) is item-level — one passport per battery — with carbon-footprint data tied to the manufacturing plant and batch. It shows the direction of travel for high-value or safety-critical products.
Does item-level mean a different QR code on every garment?
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Yes — item level requires a serialised identifier per unit, typically a GS1 Digital Link QR encoding the GTIN plus a serial number. That is heavier to print and manage than one code per style, which is why the cost-proportionality principle exists.
Keep Reading

Go Deeper

DPP QR Code Guide →
GTIN, UPID and GS1 Digital Link — the identifier stack behind every level.
How to Create a Garment DPP →
The six-step process from data collection to registry.
DPP Data Checklist →
Which fields to collect per style — mandatory vs optional.
ESPR Timeline →
When the textile delegated act lands and what it will fix.
Sources & official references
DPPLive’s Take

Granularity Is a Data Decision — Make It Once

Factories that structure product data model-first with batch and serial fields ready will treat the 2027 delegated act as a configuration switch, not a crisis. DPPLive’s pipeline is built exactly that way — one data intake, any passport level. Check how ready your current data is.

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