what if the QR code on my product is damaged or unreadable

An unreadable QR code is a problem, but not automatically an infringement in itself

A damaged or unreadable QR code means the data carrier no longer functions as intended, but the ESPR couples the requirement mainly to the product as it is placed on the market and to the fact that the digital product passport itself remains available and up to date. Article 11 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) sets requirements for the technical functioning of the data carrier during the period it is relevant, and assumes a carrier that is durably affixed to the product and remains readable under normal use. Should the code become damaged — through wear, transport, cleaning or label ageing — this is first and foremost a quality issue with the carrier, not automatically a defect in the passport behind it. The passport itself, with the unique identifier from article 12, continues to exist as long as it is hosted, even if the physical QR code on one product unit no longer scans.

Who this applies to and where the boundary lies

This issue applies to every party responsible for affixing the data carrier to the product — typically the manufacturer or importer that has the passport prepared. This concerns specifically the physical QR code on the product or packaging, not the contents of the passport behind that code: if the data in the passport itself is incorrect or outdated, that is a different matter than a torn or faded label. Also important to distinguish: articles 16 and 17 of the ESPR address labels in the broader sense, including protection against counterfeit or misleading labels — that is a different subject than a label that has simply become technically defective through use. This page does not address fraud or imitation, but the practical situation in which an otherwise legitimate QR code no longer scans.

What also does not fall under this: the question of how the QR code is initially affixed to the product, and which technical standard applies to this. This is a preparatory process established during the product and packaging design phase, described on the page on affixing the QR code to electronics.

What remains uncertain, and what does not

A concrete obligation that precisely sets out what must be done when a QR code is damaged on a product already on the market is not yet established — the delegated acts that specify the product-specific requirements for electronics and ICT equipment are expected at the earliest from 2027 onwards within the ESPR work plan 2025-2030 for this category. What is established is the principle from article 11: the data carrier must be accessible during the relevant period, and the regulation assumes a physically robust design capable of withstanding normal conditions of use. Until the delegated act for this sub-category is published, there is no detailed rule setting out what practically must happen if a code becomes damaged after all — that clarity will come once the act is published.

How this is tackled in practice

When damage is reported or identified, the first step is to verify whether the passport itself is still accessible via the unique identifier, independent of the physical code on that particular unit — that passport exists separately from the label and remains hosted as long as the required period runs, as described on the page on how long a passport remains available. The second step is to check whether there is an alternative way to access the same data, for instance via a model number, serial number, or a system integration that does not depend on scanning a single label; this aligns with how a passport can be linked to an existing ERP or inventory system. Third step: for a product that is still in stock or being repackaged, replacement of the label with the same unique identification code is the obvious practical solution, so that no new passport is required for a product that already exists. If there is doubt whether a replaced code should still point to the same passport, that is a question related to how the identification code is set up, further explained on the page about a unique identification code per product. For situations with multiple devices in one package, where a damaged code on the outer packaging also affects access to passports of the individual products, a slightly different sequence applies, described on the page about packaging levels.

The basis in the ESPR articles

All of this follows from the interconnection between three provisions in the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781): Article 11 sets out the technical requirements for the design and functioning of the data carrier, including the expectation that it functions during the relevant period; Article 12 sets out the unique identification code that identifies the passport, independently of the physical label on which that code is printed; and Articles 16 and 17 set out provisions on labels in general and protection against counterfeit labels, which is an additional but separate issue from technical wear. Together, these articles show that the legislation links the passport and the data carrier to each other, but does not fully equate them.

A company now designing a product line can take into account that the physical durability of the label is a factor that is already relevant regardless of the exact date of the delegated act, and can consult the existing pages on the technical design of the QR code and the identification code to establish that preparatory process on a solid footing before product-specific requirements are added.