What happens if I don't have a product passport for my tyres?

No obligation yet, so no sanctions

Nothing is happening at the moment, because there is no legal obligation to have a digital product passport for tyres. The ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) makes it possible to introduce a passport requirement for product groups such as tyres, but this is done per product group via a separate delegated act. For tyres, that act has not yet been published. Once it is published and the rules become applicable, that picture will change: then the usual instruments of European market surveillance will apply, as described in Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Market surveillance authorities will then have the authority to check whether a product complies with the applicable requirements, and to take action if it does not.

For tyres without future passport, not for other cases

This section concerns the situation in which a passport requirement for a tyre type applies via the ESPR, and what happens to products that come to market without a passport. It does not address the question of whether tyres are already subject to a passport or information requirement under another regulation; no such requirement exists at present outside the ESPR. It does not address specific penalty amounts or types of sanctions for the tyre sector, because these are not set out in the regulations on which this section is based. Enforcement takes place through the general framework of Regulation 2019/1020, which applies to all product groups under European market surveillance, not specifically to tyres. Anyone looking for a specific amount or a fixed sanction for the absence of a tyre passport will not find it, simply because the tyre-specific rules do not yet exist.

The date is not yet fixed

The date from which a product passport for tyres becomes mandatory is not yet fixed. According to the ESPR work plan 2025-2030, the delegated act for tyres is expected in 2027; after publication and a customary transitional period, the obligation could come into force around 2029, but this is an expectation, not an established fact. Until the delegated act is published, there is no passport requirement for tyres and therefore no basis for enforcement. Once the act is published, the date on this platform will be updated.

What this means, step by step

What this means for a tyre importer, wholesaler or fleet manager depends on when you look at it. Until the delegated act for tyres is published and comes into force, there is no passport requirement to comply with, and therefore no risk that a market surveillance authority will take action due to its absence. That is the situation today.

From the moment the requirement applies, a tyre without a passport will fall into the same category as other products that do not comply with applicable European product rules. Regulation 2019/1020 gives market surveillance authorities in that case the authority to request documentation, assess the conformity of a product, and request corrective measures from the manufacturer, importer or distributor responsible for placing it on the market. Which measure a surveillance authority chooses in a specific case is not fixed in advance and depends on that authority's own assessment at that time.

Those who wish to prevent their business operations from stalling when the requirement comes into force can in the meantime check which data on their own tyres are already available from the manufacturer or importer, and which party in the chain — manufacturer, importer or distributor — will be responsible for having the passport compiled. This is a factual inventory, not an obligation that stems from anywhere at present.

The basis: article 40 ESPR and the market surveillance regulation

The fact that there is currently no passport obligation for tyres follows from the fact that the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) leaves the specification per product group to delegated acts, and such an act for tyres has not yet been published. Article 40 of the ESPR concerns the prevention of circumvention and degradation of performance: that article is intended to prevent a product from being designed or provided with information such that it formally appears to meet the requirements, but in practice circumvents them or performs worse than stated. Once ecodesign and passport requirements apply to tyres, this article becomes part of the framework against which it is also assessed whether a manufacturer is improperly attempting to circumvent those requirements.

The powers of market surveillance authorities to monitor and take action on products that do not comply with applicable EU product rules are laid down in Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. That regulation was not written specifically for tyres, but forms the general framework that applies once a product group — such as tyres in future under the ESPR — falls under a specific European product obligation.

Those wishing to know now what will concretely change once the obligation comes into force can follow the progress of the delegated act for tyres via the ESPR work plan, and in the meantime ascertain which data on their own tyres are already available from the manufacturer or importer. Once the act is published, this page will be updated with the exact date and the applicable rules.