Article 21 — Digital product passport

1. Before placing a detergent or end-user surfactant on the market, the manufacturer shall create a digital product passport for that product. The digital product passport shall meet the requirements set out in this Article and Article 22. 2. The digital product passport shall: (a) correspond to a specific model of detergent or end-user surfactant; (b) state that compliance of the detergent or end-user surfactant with this Regulation has been demonstrated; (c) contain at least the data set out in Part A of Annex VI; (d) be accurate, complete and up-to-date; (e) be available in the language or languages required by the Member State in which the detergent or end-user surfactant is made available on the market; (f) be accessible to consumers or other end-users, market surveillance authorities, customs authorities, the Commission and other economic operators in accordance with the access rights laid down pursuant to paragraph 10, point (d); (g) be available for a period of 10 years from the date on which the detergent or end-user surfactant is placed on the market, including in cases of insolvency, liquidation or cessation of activity in the Union of the economic operator that created the digital product passport; (h) be connected through a data carrier to a persistent unique product identifier; and (i) fulfil the specific and technical requirements laid down pursuant to paragraph 10. 3. In addition to the data set out in Part A of Annex VI, the digital product passport may contain the data set out in Part B of that Annex. 4. The data carrier referred to in paragraph 2, point (h), shall be: (a) printed or otherwise physically present on the label or the packaging of the detergent or end-user surfactant, or on the documents accompanying the detergent or end-user surfactant if transported in bulk, in accordance with the Commission implementing act referred to in paragraph 10; (b) indelible; (c) positioned in such a way to be processed automatically by digital devices; (d) present on the refill station, for detergents and end-user surfactants made available on the market through refill; (e) accompanied by the statement Please scan for more comprehensive information on the product or by a similar statement; and (f) visible to the consumer or other end-users before any purchase and to market surveillance authorities, including, where applicable, in cases where the detergent or end-user surfactant is made available on the market through distance sales. 5. Where other Union law requires information on the detergent or end-user surfactant to be available via a data carrier, a single data carrier shall be used to provide the information required under this Regulation and other Union law. 6. Where other Union law applying to detergents and end-user surfactants requires a digital product passport, a single digital product passport shall be created for detergents and end-user surfactants, containing the data required under this Regulation as well as any other data required for the digital product passport by other Union law. 7. By way of derogation from paragraph 2, point (a), where other Union law requires that the digital product passport correspond to a batch or an item level, the digital product passport for the purposes of this Regulation may be issued to that level. 8. Economic operators may, in addition to the data referred to in paragraphs 5 and 6, make other information accessible through the data carrier referred to in paragraph 5. In such cases, those data shall be clearly separated from the data required under this Regulation and, where relevant, under other Union law. 9. By creating the digital product passport, the manufacturer shall assume the responsibility for the compliance of the detergent or end-user surfactant with this Regulation. 10. The Commission shall adopt an implementing act determining the basic technical requirements related to the digital product passport for detergents and end-user surfactants. The date of application of such implementing act shall not be earlier than 18 months from its entry into force, except in duly justified cases relating to the whole implementing act or to certain provisions thereof, or except in the event of partial repeal or amendment of the implementing act, where an earlier date of application may be set. Those technical requirements shall include at least the following: (a) one or more data carriers to be used; (b) the layout in which the data carrier is to be presented and its positioning; (c) the technical elements of the digital product passport for which defined European or international standards are to be used; (d) the actors that are to have access to the data in the digital product passport and to what data they are to have access; (e) the actors that are to create a digital product passport or update the data in a digital product passport, and what data they may introduce or update; and (f) the detailed arrangements for introducing or updating data referred to in point (e). The implementing act referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 32(2). 11. The actors that update data in the digital product passport shall be responsible for the accuracy of the data they provide, except in cases where they act on behalf of the manufacturer. 12. The economic operator placing the detergent or end-user surfactant on the market shall: (a) provide distributors and providers of online marketplaces with a digital copy of the data carrier or the unique product identifier, as relevant, to allow them to make the data carrier or the unique product identifier accessible to potential customers who cannot physically access the product; (b) provide the digital copy referred to in point (a) or a webpage link free of charge, promptly and in any event within five working days of receiving a request to do so; and (c) make available a back-up copy of the digital product passport through a digital product passport service provider.