is a product passport required if I sell second-hand tyres

What you must do concretely

What is expected of you

The obligation attaches to placing on the market, not to every sale

The ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) links the obligation for a digital product passport to the moment when a product is first placed on the European market. Article 1 describes the scope of the regulation in this sense: it concerns products that are placed on the market or put into service. For a tyre that was sold new years ago and is now changing hands as a used tyre, that first moment has already passed — well before the passport obligation for tyres even existed. For a business of 10 to 100 employees engaged in the trade of second-hand tyres, this means in practice that the resale of a tyre that has already been in use does not in itself trigger the obligation to create a passport again.

The passport follows the product, it is not recreated upon resale

Article 9 of the ESPR describes the digital product passport as something that is linked to the product and travels with it throughout its entire lifespan — including any further sales, hiring or other use. For a business trading in used tyres, this means that when a passport already exists for a tyre type (because the tyre was first placed on the market after the introduction of the obligation), that passport in principle accompanies the product and is not reassembled upon each subsequent sale. What is then practically to be done is mainly: keep the data carrier (QR code) on the tyre intact and not remove or render it illegible, and not: create a new passport yourself.

Distinction between "used tyre" and "tyre being placed on the market again"

Article 2 of the ESPR provides the definitions that determine when something qualifies as "placing on the market". This distinction is relevant for second-hand trade, because not every transaction involving a used tyre is the same. A tyre that passes from one owner to another without modification is a different situation from a tyre that is first buffed or fitted with a new tread and then sold again. For a second-hand tyre trader, this distinction is often the crux of the question, and it is discussed in more detail on the page about casings and retreading — because a modification can take on the character of "placing on the market again".

Where things go wrong in practice

A wholesaler assumes that "used" automatically means "exempt". This usually aligns with the logic of the regulation, but the reason is that the product has already been placed on the market before — not that used products as a category are excluded. If there is doubt about whether a particular batch still qualifies as "first time on the market", it is advisable to look at when the tyre was originally produced and sold rather than relying on the "second-hand" label.

An importer of used tyres from a third country treats the import as ordinary resale. However, importing from outside the EU may result in a different moment of "placing on the market" than resale within the EU, because the product then comes to the European market for the first time. This is precisely the type of situation where the question of whether something falls under the ESPR is not straightforward, and where the page about which products from the tyre sector fall under the ESPR provides a supplement to what is stated here about used tyres.

A tyre trader removes the QR code while cleaning or changing tyres on used tyres. Because the digital product passport remains linked to the product in accordance with Article 9, removing or rendering the data carrier illegible is an action that is separate from the question of whether a new passport obligation arises — but it can have consequences for the accessibility of data for a subsequent buyer.

A company thinks that "no passport needed for resale" also means "no passport needed for buffing". Tread renewal and buffing are modifications that give the tyre a new technical condition, and that is closely related to the question of whether there is placing on the market again. This is addressed separately and not simply equated with ordinary resale of an unmodified tyre.

Fleet managers who dispose of tyres from their own fleet wonder whether they must draw up a passport as a seller. They are typically not a manufacturer or importer within the meaning of the regulation, and drawing up a passport does not normally fall to them. Confusion arises mainly because the role of "seller of a second-hand product" is not the same party as the party that must have the passport originally compiled in accordance with Article 9.

What you can record

• Origin and sale date of the used batch — with which documentation can be shown when and by whom the tyre was originally placed on the market, so that it is clear whether that moment is before or after the possible obligation.
• Condition of the data carrier at purchase and sale — a brief check and note of whether the QR code on the tyre is still present and readable, especially for batches that pass through multiple intermediaries.
• Distinction between unmodified resale and modified tyres — a fixed internal criterion or agreement on when a batch qualifies as "buffed" or "renewed", with reference to the company's own procedures for that category.
• Import documentation for batches from outside the EU — record when and by whom a batch of used tyres is first brought within the EU, with a view to the question of whether that counts as the first time "placing on the market".
• Reference to the role of your own organisation — a brief internal note on whether the organisation acts as a manufacturer, importer, distributor or solely as a reseller, since these roles entail different obligations; what this concretely means is detailed on the page about what the ESPR changes for the tyre industry.

For an initial orientation on the question of whether a specific tyre type or size falls under the digital product passport requirement at all, the page about whether the digital product passport applies to your tyres is a logical starting point, even when the current question concerns second-hand trade.