Regulatory Digital Product Passports as a Catalyst for U. S. Supply Chain Visibility
interoperability that uses DPPs and associated structures for traceability and verifiable claims [ 3 ]. While motivated in part by circularity and anti-greenwashing objectives, these initiatives may reshape supply chain information availability more broadly by compelling or enabling structured disclosures across global value chains.
The technical standards and some of the concepts discussed in this paper— particularly SPDX 3.1, the next update to SPDX( OMG formal / 24-11-01), and its ontology-based supply chain knowledge graph— and the digital thread are direct products of a combined ecosystem of the new EDM Association( publisher of this journal), with its acquisition of the Object Management Group( OMG) and communities such as the Digital Twin Consortium( DTC) in October 2025. DPP implementations that adopt SPDX 3.1 as a carrier format are implementing OMG / EDM Association standards, and the " digital thread " architecture that links provenance across the product lifecycle maps precisely to DTC ' s formally defined digital thread concept [ 4 ].
The remainder of this paper will discuss the implications for supply chain design and management under shifting regulatory and geopolitical conditions, focusing on whether DPP-driven reporting can expand useful supply chain flow data within and through the United States. A short enterprise use case later in the paper illustrates how DPP-style evidence can reduce greenwashing risk and create broader operational value.
Note: This paper leverages MITRE ' s seedling assessment framing and results report [ 1 ]. The seedling report evaluated whether DPP-based regimes could materially change the availability of useful supply chain flow data for the United States by examining three dimensions:( 1) compliance and conformance mechanisms,( 2) cross-sector adoption dynamics and interoperability constraints, and( 3) how DPP-driven data differs from current third-party-derived datasets in structure, provenance, and analytic utility.
2 REGULATORY DRIVERS: ESPR, UNTP, AND APPLICABLE STANDARDS EU ECODESIGN FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS REGULATION( ESPR)
ESPR is an EU framework regulation intended to reduce environmental impacts across product lifecycles and promote circular economy outcomes— economic models intended to maximize reuse, repairability, refurbishment, and material recovery while minimizing waste and resource extraction( durability, repairability, recyclability) [ 5 ]. A central mechanism is the Digital Product Passport( DPP), a structured digital record intended to communicate product identity, composition, provenance, and claims, with product-group-specific requirements to be defined through delegated acts and related implementation activities.
Enforcement and compliance. ESPR enforcement occurs through EU Member States ' Market Surveillance Authorities and customs authorities that can suspend release of non-compliant products, with penalties defined in national legislation; MITRE ' s seedling report summarizes these mechanisms and their relevance to cross-border supply chains.
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