In today’s global market, unverified product claims can provide false assurances to consumers and regulators alike. Conformity assessments are vital for ensuring that products meet required standards, but the traditional methods – often paper-based or in PDF formats – fall short in providing the necessary data processing capabilities for efficient regulation and verification, hampering regulatory and market efforts towards sustainable trade.

To address these issues, the Business Requirements Specification (BRS) proposes a structured data model for exchanging and verifying product conformity information. This model aligns with WTO and ISO standards, facilitating global acceptance of conformity assessment outcomes. It aims to enhance transparency, accountability, and automated verification in the supply chain, supporting digital trade and regulatory initiatives.

The draft specification, Digital Product Conformity Certificate Exchange – High level Process, provides a blueprint for digitally verifying product claims.  This marks a significant leap forward in the quest for reliable and sustainable trade practices. By proposing a structured data model for the exchange and verification of product conformity information, this specification supports essential digital infrastructure, including digital product passports and digital trade single windows.

A Collaborative Effort for Global Standards

This specification is the result of an extensive international collaboration (including significant input from JASANZ and NATA), drawing insights from experts in trade, conformity, standardisation, regulation, and data modelling. It addresses key challenges in the current system:

• Static attestations that do not update automatically
• Susceptibility to false claims
• Questionable rigor of some conformity assessments
• Removal of sensitive data points from accessible pools

By describing the capture of key data elements, the specification provides a robust structure for product conformity attestations, most of which still exist in non-digital form. This approach empowers Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) to maintain control over their data integrity while meeting their customers’ requirements.

Flexibility for a Digital Future

The proposed data model is versatile. It can support comprehensive verification processes or be implemented at a more modest level, providing a gradual pathway toward full supply chain digitalization. This flexibility ensures that all stakeholders can benefit from enhanced transparency and accountability, regardless of their current digital capabilities.

This work is crucial for the transparency of product claims and the advancement of digital trade. It provides a technical foundation that supports the sustainability initiatives demanded by governments, regulators, and consumers.

The public review of the draft BRS is now available on the UNECE website.