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Does the product passport also apply to small businesses?

Small businesses are also subject to the rules, with additional support

Yes, the digital product passport applies in principle to all businesses that place products covered by the ESPR on the market, regardless of company size. The obligation is linked to the product and product category, not to the number of employees or the turnover of the manufacturer or importer. However, the ESPR specifically addresses the position of small and medium-sized enterprises in Article 22, with a view to the additional burden that these rules may represent for smaller organisations.

Who this applies to and who it does not

The key point is: the obligation to provide a digital product passport arises as soon as a product from a designated product category is placed on the European market. For furniture, this has not yet been concretely established — this designation takes place via a delegated act that is still to be published. Once furniture is designated as a product category, the passport obligation applies to everyone who places such furniture on the market: large manufacturers, but also small workshops, importers and project furnishers. There is no general exemption in the ESPR that places small businesses entirely outside the passport obligation. What Article 22 does regulate is that when implementing the regulation, attention is paid to the specific situation of small and medium-sized enterprises — this is therefore not an exemption, but a form of support and attention within the same framework that applies to all businesses.

Important distinction: whether a business is small is different from the question of whether a product falls under the ESPR. A sole proprietorship importing furniture is subject to the same product rules as a multinational producing similar furniture. Business size plays a role in the ESPR in the way the rules are applied and supported, not in the question of whether they apply.

What is already established and what is not

There is no concrete date yet for when the passport obligation for furniture will come into force. The ESPR work plan for the period 2025-2030 mentions a delegated act for furniture expected in 2028; this is a schedule, not an established obligation. Once that delegated act is published, it will be clear from when furniture is subject to the passport obligation, and it will also become clear whether and how account is taken of smaller businesses — for example through transition periods or practical support. Until then, there is no statutory passport obligation for furniture for businesses of any size.

What is already established: Article 22 of the ESPR determines that when implementing the regulation in general, attention is paid to small and medium-sized enterprises. This article applies regardless of which product categories have already been designated — it is part of the general framework of the regulation.

How a small business can best approach this

The first step is to check whether and when furniture is designated as a product category — this determines whether and from which point the passport obligation becomes concrete. As long as that designation is not in place, a small business does not need to create a passport, but it is advisable to follow when the delegated act is published, as it will also contain practical details such as any transition periods.

A second point to keep an eye on: once more is known about the precise implementation of support for small and medium-sized enterprises under Article 22, this will be relevant to the way the obligation is shaped in practice — think of the question of whether there are simplified procedures or additional guidance. This is not yet determined, so a small business would do well to follow official publications on this rather than making assumptions in advance about lighter rules.

In practical terms, the approach to the passport itself does not change substantially due to company size: a small company will also have to provide the data on the product that is necessary to compile the passport, such as material use and origin. The size of the company does not determine which data is necessary — that is determined by the product group and the associated delegated act.

Where this follows from: Article 22 of the ESPR

This explanation is based on Article 22 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR), which specifically addresses small and medium-sized enterprises within the scope of the regulation. For the precise content of that article and the way in which this is implemented in practice, the official text of the regulation is the appropriate source.

Anyone currently working with furniture therefore does not need to wait for a separate regulation for small companies to understand where they stand: the passport obligation itself depends on the designation of furniture as a product group, and that designation does not yet exist. Once it does, the obligation applies to every company that places such furniture on the market, with — via Article 22 — attention to the specific position of smaller enterprises within that framework.

This is based on

The regulation itself is available on EUR-Lex. We refer per statement; you do not need to believe us.

What you concretely have to do

What is expected of you

Article 22 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) addresses small and medium-sized enterprises, but that article does not remove the obligation for this group. The key point is that the obligations under the regulation apply in principle to all enterprises that place a product on the market, regardless of the size of the enterprise. What Article 22 does regulate is that attention must be paid to the position of small and medium-sized enterprises in implementation: think of support, information provision and possible financing from Member States or the Union. That is something different from an exemption.

For an enterprise with 10 to 100 employees, this distinction is important to maintain clearly. It is not the case that company size automatically determines whether a passport must be drawn up — that depends on the product and on the delegated act that is established for that product group. Furniture falls within this, as described on the page about does the digital product passport apply to my furniture. The size of the enterprise is therefore not an independent ground for exception.

Compiling and maintaining the passport

When the delegated act for furniture enters into force, the obligation to maintain a product passport applies to all market actors falling within the scope, from sole proprietor to international chain. For an enterprise of this size, this means in practice that a process must be put in place to collect the correct data, have it recorded in a passport and keep it available — often easier to organise when this is set up as a permanent part of production or purchasing administration, rather than as a one-off action per product.

Attention to proportionality in implementation

Article 22 speaks of measures to alleviate the implementation burden for small and medium-sized enterprises, such as guidance or simplified procedures. What those measures will specifically entail for the furniture sector has not yet been worked out — that will follow from the delegated act and any supplementary guidelines. It is therefore wise to make no assumptions about this until the text is available; more about how that act is developed is on the page about what a delegated act is and why it determines what you must do.

Cooperation in the chain

An enterprise of this size often does not produce everything itself: components, upholstery or finishing come from suppliers. The obligation to keep data complete and up-to-date does not automatically shift to those suppliers. Whoever compiles the passport remains dependent on the data that is supplied, and that dependency must be organised practically — for example by establishing who supplies and maintains which data.

Where things go wrong in practice

A number of situations recur at enterprises of this size.

First: the assumption that "small" is equivalent to "exempt". Because other EU legislation sometimes does have thresholds for enterprise size, that logic is sometimes incorrectly applied to the ESPR.

Second: the passport is treated as a one-off project rather than as an ongoing process. With a small team, there is often no separate compliance department, so the passport ends up with one person who does it alongside other tasks — with the risk of falling behind as data changes. See also the page about how current the data in the passport must be.

Third: unclear responsibility in the chain as to who supplies which data. With a small enterprise that outsources a lot, there is sometimes no fixed agreement with suppliers about material data, so the passport is later compiled with gaps.

Fourth: confusion between bespoke production and series production. A small enterprise that works on a project basis sometimes assumes that bespoke work automatically falls outside the rules. That is not necessarily the case; the page about the product passport and made-to-measure furniture goes further on this.

Fifth: delaying preparation because the exact obligations have not yet been established. Even without a definitive date, implementing a data process is something that takes time, and starting it early prevents rushing when the delegated act is published.

What you can put in order now

These arrangements make the pasport not a one-off action, but a part of business operations that evolves with changes in the assortment and with the final rules once they are in place.

This is not legal advice. This page provides general information about the legislation that this platform concerns. We do not know your situation. If in doubt about your own case, consult a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority.

Written with AI based on the sources above, reviewed by a human on 2026-08-22. Is something wrong? Let us know — corrections take priority.