Sunrise 2027 and the Digital Product Passport

Two deadlines are converging on the same square of ink. Here is how a retailer and its suppliers get ready — together — on the GS1 standards they already use.Prepared for retailers, brands & Chambers of Commerce

By the end of 2027 the barcode at the checkout changes. Under the GS1 Sunrise 2027 initiative, retail point-of-sale worldwide will be able to read a 2D code — a QR Code or GS1 DataMatrix — alongside the familiar linear barcode. In parallel, the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) makes a Digital Product Passport mandatory, product group by product group — batteries first, then textiles and others. The same square of ink now has to do two jobs: ring up a sale, and open a trustworthy passport. This brief shows how a retailer and its suppliers prepare for both, on top of the GS1 standards they already run.

Challenge

Like every serious retailer, you want accurate, trustworthy product data — to run your operation smoothly and to give shoppers confidence. But two deadlines are arriving together: tills that must read 2D codes by the end of 2027, and a mandatory Digital Product Passport under EU law. Suppliers are ready to differing degrees, and a code is worthless if the data behind it cannot be trusted.

Solution

Ask every supplier to meet one clear standard: a properly licensed GS1 identity, a GS1 Digital Link on the brand’s own domain, and a passport whose every claim is backed by a recorded chain of custody. DSR is the physical-truth layer that sits on top of GS1 and makes that passport resolve — and keep resolving — for the regulated life of the product.

Benefits

One code serves the till and the passport. Onboarding is standardised, so suppliers arrive ready. The passport is owned by the brand, portable by open standard, and provably true — which is exactly what regulators, customs and shoppers are about to ask for.

Consumers deserve product information they can trust — and, increasingly, the law agrees. A passport is only as good as the truth behind the code.

Two deadlines, one code

Programme	What changes	When	Who acts
GS1 Sunrise 2027 Industry initiative	Retail point-of-sale reads a 2D code (QR Code or GS1 DataMatrix) as well as the linear barcode; brands dual-mark packs.	By 31 December 2027.	Retailers upgrade scanning; brands add the 2D code.
EU Digital Product Passport Law · ESPR	A machine-readable passport is mandatory, opened from the on-pack code.	Batteries from 18 February 2027; textiles and further groups via delegated acts (indicative: iron & steel 2026, textiles 2027, furniture 2028).	Brands and importers supply passport data; retailers require it.

Dates are indicative and are set per product group in the applicable delegated act. Sunrise 2027 is an industry initiative, not legislation; the Digital Product Passport is a legal requirement under ESPR (Reg. (EU) 2024/1781).

Built on top of GS1 — not instead of it

You do not replace your barcodes; you supercharge them. Your GTIN stays the identity of the product. Your GS1 Digital Link turns the on-pack code into a web address on your own domain. Your data stays aligned to the GS1 Global Data Model and verifiable in Verified by GS1. DSR adds the one thing a barcode cannot carry on its own: physical truth. Every passport claim is anchored to the item and to a recorded chain of custody, so ownership and provenance are secured by evidence — not by assertion. The identifier resolves on your domain for the regulated lifespan of the product, and each custody event is logged and auditable.

Your identity, your domainThe GTIN and GS1 Digital Link stay yours. The on-pack code resolves to a passport on your domain, never a supplier’s — and the identifier is never reassigned.

Physical truth, not claimsEach passport is bound to the physical item and to a recorded chain of custody. Ownership and provenance are secured by evidence — not by assertion.

One code, two jobsA single 2D code rings up the sale at a Sunrise-ready till and opens the mandatory Digital Product Passport for the shopper, regulator or recycler.

Open-standard export — no lock-inEvery passport downloads as GS1 Digital Link + JSON-LD and can be handed to any conformant resolver. You are never trapped inside one supplier.

Built to outlast the productPassports keep resolving for the regulated lifespan, served from EU-resident object storage with an independent back-up — the continuity the ESPR requires.

Aligned to the GS1 Global Data ModelMandatory attributes follow the GS1 Global Data Model and stay verifiable in Verified by GS1, so the same trusted data serves the till, the shelf and the regulator.

Benefits, by who is holding the code

One standard, four winners. When every supplier arrives ready, the value lands on all sides of the code at once.

Brands

List with confidence, tell your product’s story beyond the label, and prove authenticity — protecting margin and reputation.

Retailers

Onboard suppliers to one standard, cut data-validation queries, and meet Sunrise 2027 and DPP duties with the barcode you already scan.

Consumers

Scan once for a trustworthy passport — origin, materials, care, repair and recycling — from a code they can believe.

Regulators & customs

Discover and verify a product through the EU’s thin registry, with an auditable chain of custody behind every claim.

The supplier onboarding memo

Getting this right is a joint effort between a retailer and its suppliers. Send this memo to every supplier so they arrive ready. Three requests, one standard:

Licence and list your GS1 identityEvery product carries a GTIN, properly licensed from GS1 and allocated under the GS1 GTIN Management Rules, and is listed and kept current in Verified by GS1.
Add a GS1 Digital Link on your own domainDual-mark each pack with a 2D code (QR Code or GS1 DataMatrix) alongside the linear barcode, resolving on your own domain to the product’s Digital Product Passport — ready for Sunrise 2027 tills.
Register with the resolver and record the chain of custodyEnrol the identifier with DSR so the passport resolves for the regulated lifespan, aligns to the GS1 Global Data Model and the applicable delegated-act fields, and every custody event is captured as physical truth.

Onboarding checklist

GTIN licensed and allocated per GS1 rules
Products listed and current in Verified by GS1
2D code (QR / GS1 DataMatrix) added alongside the 1D barcode
GS1 Digital Link resolves on the brand’s own domain
Mandatory data aligned to the GS1 Global Data Model
Delegated-act passport fields supplied for the product group
Identifier registered with the DSR resolver
Chain-of-custody evidence captured at each handover

Looking forward

Once product data moves from the physical shelf to the digital shelf, a brand can express far more than a label allows — origin, craft, care, repair and end-of-life. The retailer simply provides the path for that message to reach the shopper. Standardise onboarding now, on the GS1 standards you already trust, and Sunrise 2027 and the Digital Product Passport stop being deadlines to fear and become an advantage you own.

About

About DSR Protocol

DSR Protocol is the physical-truth and chain-of-custody layer for the Digital Product Passport. It resolves a GS1 Digital Link on the brand’s own domain, binds each passport to the physical item, and keeps it available for the product’s regulated lifespan — with open-standard export and no lock-in.

About GS1 Sunrise 2027

GS1 Sunrise 2027 is an industry-led initiative for retail point-of-sale to be able to read 2D barcodes — QR Code and GS1 DataMatrix — in addition to the traditional linear barcode, by the end of 2027. It is a commercial readiness milestone, not legislation.

About the EU Digital Product Passport

The Digital Product Passport is a requirement of the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR, Reg. (EU) 2024/1781). It becomes mandatory product group by product group via delegated acts — batteries first — with content held in a decentralised store the EU discovers through a thin registry.

About this case study

This brief uses illustrative retailer and brand personas to show a standard path to readiness. It is a positioning document, not legal advice; confirm the regulatory points with counsel and read the exact scope and dates from the applicable delegated act.

Sources: the GS1 2D barcodes at retail point-of-sale (Sunrise 2027) direction; the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), Reg. (EU) 2024/1781; and the EU Battery Regulation (2023/1542). This is a positioning document, not legal advice — the regulatory points should be confirmed with counsel and the exact windows read from the applicable delegated act.

Companion brief: /dpp-longevity · Live demonstration: /resolver-demo
dsrprotocol.com · 26 September 2026

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