A machine-readable matrix code that links a physical battery or product to required digital information.
QR code is the machine-readable matrix code that links users, operators, or authorities to information required by the Battery Regulation. It is also the visible scan point in many battery-passport and product-passport workflows: it may encode a URL, identifier, or lookup reference, but compliance value depends on the governed record, role-based access, and evidence behind the scan.
A QR code is a machine-readable matrix code that links a physical battery or product to required digital information. It is the visible gateway to the record, not the passport itself, not the unique identifier, and not proof of compliance on its own.
A QR code, or Quick Response code, is a two-dimensional matrix barcode used as a physical access mechanism. Attached to a product, battery, packaging, label, or accompanying document, it can encode a secure URL, unique identifier, or lookup reference that routes a scanner to the relevant digital compliance record. In battery-passport and DPP architecture, the QR code is the visible access layer. It does not define the passport data structure, create the unique identifier, enforce the access-rights model, or guarantee the validity of the data it connects to.
The main implementation mistake is to treat the scannable square as the passport. The QR code is the key or doorway; the passport is the structured electronic record behind that doorway. The QR code is also not the unique identifier. It may carry or resolve an identifier, but the identifier is the value that distinguishes the asset, product model, batch, item, or battery. A printed code is not compliance evidence by itself, because a code can be generated without complete data, proper audit trails, supplier evidence, lifecycle updates, or permission controls.
Scanning the same QR code should not be read as everyone seeing the same passport content. A consumer, repairer, recycler, customs official, market surveillance authority, and economic operator may enter through the same visible code but receive different fields or assurance levels based on role-based access, authentication, authorization, and legal disclosure rules. The QR code provides the entry point; the passport system decides what the scanner can see.
The EU Battery Regulation defines QR code as a machine-readable matrix code that links to information required by the Regulation. Article 13 and Article 77 set the operational context for battery information and battery-passport access: relevant batteries must bear a QR code that is printed or engraved visibly, legibly, and indelibly where possible, with access to the battery passport required from 18 February 2027 for covered battery categories. DIN DKE SPEC 99100 is useful as implementation context for battery-passport data and access architecture, but the binding legal definition comes from the EU Battery Regulation.
Printing the QR code is the last-mile access step, not the first compliance task. Implementation work should start with a reliable data chain, product or battery identity model, access-rights model, and resolution architecture. The physical code then has to remain scannable, persistent, and, where the EU Battery Regulation applies, printed or engraved visibly, legibly, and indelibly over the product or battery lifecycle. Teams should plan for print quality, engraving or label method, placement, abrasion, heat, chemicals, replacement labels, redirect governance, backend migrations, offline handling, cloned codes, unreadable codes, and fallback access if the original carrier fails.
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 concerning batteries and waste batteries
a machine-readable matrix code that links to information as required by this Regulation;
Reference: Article 3, point 24
These entries are non-verbatim context summaries. They are not presented as public legal definitions.
DIN DKE SPEC 99100:2025-02 — Requirements for data attributes of the battery passport
DIN DKE SPEC 99100 uses QR code as implementation context for the battery-passport labelling and access layer.
Non-verbatim implementation-context summary only; not a verbatim DIN definition. DIN DKE SPEC 99100 is a copyrighted standard, so this page gives context rather than republishing the standard text.
Reference: Section 3.39
Reviewed public draft page. Aligns with identity/access policy: separates identity, carrier, QR/access mechanism, passport record, item granularity, and service-platform infrastructure.
Implementation records should capture code payload, resolution target, print or engraving specification, placement location, scan-quality check, linked battery or product identifier, redirect rule, access-control outcome, replacement procedure, lifecycle durability test, and fallback route for damaged or unreadable codes.
QR code is often treated as shorthand for the passport itself, but the code is only the visible access mechanism at the edge of the passport stack. If the evidence behind it is stale, incomplete, or linked to the wrong battery, the scan creates confidence without substance; the scan should be linked to identity, permissions, evidence freshness, and fallback handling.
Minespider’s product-passports overview explains how DPP access points, identifiers, permissions, and supply-chain data fit together in implementation.
Read on MinespiderBattery-sector context for passport data, battery identity, access mechanisms, and the evidence layer behind battery-passport implementation.
Read on MinespiderLegal definition of QR code as a machine-readable matrix code linking to information required by the Regulation.
Open referenceOperational context for visible, legible, indelible QR-code marking and battery-passport access for covered battery categories.
Open referenceStandards context for battery-passport data attributes and implementation architecture; useful for access-layer alignment but not a substitute for the legal definition.
Open referenceNeutral implementation context for QR codes and other two-dimensional barcode technologies used to connect physical items to digital information.
Open reference