How do I record the supply of passport data in my purchase contract?

Record passport data as a delivery condition

You establish the delivery of passport data by including it as a separate, explicit condition in the purchase contract — not as a sub-clause in quality agreements, but as its own provision with its own delivery moment. In practice, this means you agree on which data the supplier delivers, in what format, at what moment (upon delivery of the product, not afterwards), and what happens if data is missing or proves to be incorrect. An aluminium semi-finished product without the corresponding passport data is practically unusable for you once the obligation for your product group takes effect, and you therefore do not tacitly place that risk on yourself but explicitly on the party that knows the data best: the manufacturer or importer further down the chain.

For whom this is relevant, and for what it is not

This is relevant for anyone who purchases aluminium semi-finished products from a manufacturer or importer and needs this data to meet a passport obligation themselves — think of profile processors, foundries and packaging aluminium producers who further process or resell the material. This concerns specifically the contractual arrangement between the purchasing and supplying party, not the content of the passport itself or the way alupas.eu processes and hosts the data. It is also not about whether a specific product falls under the ESPR obligation: that is determined per product group separately via a delegated act, and the contractual arrangements discussed here are only relevant once that obligation applies to the product group in question.

The obligation applies once the delegated act enters into force

A fixed date is not yet established. The ESPR itself (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) is the framework regulation; the concrete obligation for aluminium semi-finished products only arises with a product-specific delegated act, and that has not yet been published for this product group. What is established, however, is that the regulation already now governs the role of actors in the supply chain and importers once such an act enters into force (Article 38 and Article 29 ESPR). Until the delegated act is published, there is no legal obligation to deliver passport data — but nothing prevents a purchasing party from laying the contractual basis for it now, so that delivery runs smoothly once the obligation takes effect.

How to incorporate this step by step

Start by naming the data that the supplier must deliver, and refer to the source rather than to a fixed list — the exact dataset follows from the delegated act for the product group, and this may change after contract conclusion. Then set out when delivery takes place: for most purchasing relationships, the moment linked to physical delivery of the product is the most workable. Next, describe in what format the data is delivered, so that it can be taken over into the passport without manual processing — this prevents delay and errors when compiling it. Also agree on what happens if there is a change in the composition or origin of the material, since this may affect the passport data. Finally, include a provision on the consequences of missing or incorrect data: who corrects it, within what timeframe, and whether this has consequences for delivery or payment. These last two points are subject to commercial negotiation between the parties and do not follow directly from the regulation.

The legal basis: Article 38 and 29 ESPR

Article 38 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) describes that actors in the supply chain must provide the information needed to comply with the passport requirements, which forms the basis for contractually recording data delivery between supplier and buyer. Article 29 regulates the obligations of importers, including checking whether passport requirements are met before a product is placed on the market — relevant for those sourcing aluminium semi-finished products from outside the EU and acting as importers themselves. Both articles provide the legal basis for why a contractual agreement on data delivery is necessary, without themselves prescribing a format or deadline; the latter will be filled in by the delegated act yet to be published.

Those drawing up or reviewing purchasing contracts now can include the provision on passport data in advance with a reference to the applicable delegated act instead of to a fixed data list, so that the contract automatically moves along once that act is published — and the delivery of data to alupas.eu from that point onwards can run without dispute within the existing supply relationship.

What this is based on

The regulation itself is on EUR-Lex. We refer per statement; you do not have to take our word for it.

What you must concretely do

What is expected of you

Provide data on time and in full

A purchase contract for aluminium semi-finished products establishes that the supplier provides the data for the product passport, and not only once the product is already in transit. The ESPR builds the obligations along the entire supply chain: Article 38 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) describes what is expected from actors in that chain when it comes to making information available. For a company with 10 to 100 employees, this practically means that the contract links a delivery date or moment to the data, for example simultaneously with the shipment or before invoicing. Without that link, the provision often becomes disconnected from the order, and the question "where are the data" only arises once the product is already in the warehouse. Which data exactly, is described on the page about which data you request from your aluminium supplier.

Accuracy of the provided data

The contract can establish that the supplier is responsible for the accuracy of the data that are provided, for example alloy composition, origin and recycling percentage. For a smaller or medium-sized enterprise, this is often the point where one assumes that "the supplier will have filled it in correctly" — an assumption that does not automatically hold. A warranty clause in the contract makes this explicit, and the page about how you verify whether your supplier's data are correct describes what such a check can practically consist of.

Communicating changes

Alloys and production processes change, and with them the underlying data. A contract that only regulates the first delivery often misses the agreement on what happens if the composition or production process changes with a next order. For companies working with fixed alloy codes for repeated orders, a notification requirement upon change is a practical addition, so that the passport does not silently become outdated.

Liability on import from outside the EU

Whoever purchases aluminium from outside the EU is faced with a different division of roles: Article 29 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) describes the obligations of importers. For a purchase contract with a supplier outside the EU, this means that the importer itself takes a larger role in completing the passport, and that the contract can be structured accordingly. What this means for the practice of imports is described on the page about what the product passport means when importing aluminium from outside the European Union.

Communicating data on resale or further processing

A contract regulates not only the inflow of data, but also what happens to that data once the aluminium is further processed or resold. For production companies that further process profiles or castings, this is often overlooked: the data come in, but there is no agreement on how they are carried forward to the next passport. The page about what happens to the passport upon further processing goes further into this.

Where things go wrong in practice

A number of situations recur regularly among companies that draw up or review purchase contracts for aluminium:

The purchasing terms were drawn up years ago and deal with quality, delivery time and price, but contain not a word about data or passport data. With the first order after the obligation comes into effect, there is then no contractual basis to request anything.
Multiple suppliers are used for the same alloy, without having agreed in advance who supplies which part of the data. This creates a puzzle when compiling the passport that is difficult to solve afterwards; the page about how you process data from multiple suppliers for the same alloy in one passport describes where that goes wrong.
A subcontractor performs a processing step (for example anodising or a surface treatment) without the contract with that subcontractor containing anything about data provision. The main contract with your own customer does regulate the passport data, but the link between them is missing. See the page on or a subcontractor processing aluminium for you must also provide data.
The contract contains an obligation to provide data, but no sanction or follow-up if the supplier does not deliver. In practice, a delivery obligation without consequences often remains a dead letter.
For aluminium composed (in part) from scrap, the contract assumes that the origin is "simply known", whereas mixed batches require a different type of substantiation. The page on how you determine the data if your aluminium comes from mixed scrap goes further into this.

What you can document now

In a purchase contract or its associated terms and conditions, a number of elements can be included concretely:

A provision linking the delivery of passport data to a moment in the purchasing process (for example together with the shipment or before invoicing).
A description of which data exactly are expected, possibly with reference to a fixed delivery format or template.
A warranty provision regarding the accuracy of the provided data.
A notification obligation in case of changes to alloy, composition or production process in subsequent orders.
A provision on what happens if the supplier does not deliver or delivers incompletely; what to consider in this regard is described on the page on what you can do if your supplier does not provide the data.
For purchasing via a subcontractor: a separate provision in that specific agreement, rather than relying on the main agreement with the end customer.
In case of missing origin information: an agreement on how to handle this, in line with what is described on the page on what you do if you cannot trace the origin of your aluminium.

Whether, and from which moment, these agreements fulfil a legal obligation depends on the delegated act that still needs to be published for aluminium. The page on when the product passport becomes mandatory for aluminium keeps track of this date, and the page on or the digital product passport applies to your aluminium describes which products this is expected to affect. Establishing a contractual basis ahead of that date ensures that data provision will not come as a surprise when the obligation does take effect.

This is not legal advice. This page provides general information on the legislation that this platform covers. We do not know your situation. If in doubt about your own case, consult a lawyer or the competent supervisory authority.

Written with AI based on the sources above, checked by a human on 2026-08-22. Is something not right? Let us know — corrections are prioritised.