> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL. > For a complete documentation index, see https://tieback.io/docs/llms.txt. > For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://tieback.io/docs/_mcp/server. # Glossary > The tieback Knowledge glossary: precise, vendor neutral definitions of the legal, supply chain and technical terms used across Digital Product Passport and EU product compliance work. ## Introduction Digital Product Passport work sits at the intersection of three professions that rarely share a vocabulary. Lawyers speak in framework regulations, delegated acts and economic operators. Supply chain teams speak in batches, lots, articles and consignments. Technology teams speak in identifiers, resolvers, schemas and carriers. The same English word can mean three different things depending on which of those rooms you are standing in, and passport programmes routinely lose weeks to that ambiguity. This glossary is the reference layer of tieback Knowledge. Each entry gives one precise definition, explains how the term is actually used in practice, separates what is settled law from what is still being written, and links to the Knowledge Base articles where the concept is explained in depth. Entries are deliberately short. They are written to be quoted in an internal specification, a supplier brief or a steering paper without further editing. ## Why Terminology Matters Regulatory language is not descriptive, it is operative. When Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 uses the term "economic operator", it is not describing a category of business, it is assigning obligations that attach to whoever meets the definition. An organisation that believes it is a distributor when it is legally a manufacturer has not made a wording error, it has misidentified who is answerable for the product. The same is true of technical vocabulary. A product identifier, a data carrier and a resolver are three separate things that are frequently discussed as if they were one. Conflating them produces implementations that print a destination address on a product and discover, years later, that the address cannot be changed without a recall of packaging. Precise terminology also survives handover. Passport obligations extend well beyond the commercial life of a product, across staff changes, system migrations and supplier turnover. Definitions that were only ever understood informally do not survive that; documented ones do. ## How to Use the Glossary Use it as a lookup rather than a sequential read. Three approaches work well. Read an entry when you meet an unfamiliar term in an article. Every Knowledge Base article links its key terms here on first significant use, so you can resolve a definition and return without losing the thread. Use entries as source text for internal documents. Definitions here are written to be vendor neutral and citable, with primary sources listed, so they can be adopted directly into a data dictionary, a requirements specification or a supplier onboarding pack. Use the related terms at the foot of each entry to explore a concept cluster. Identity, carriers and resolution form one cluster; economic operators, conformity assessment and market surveillance form another; sustainability data, lifecycle and circularity form a third. Reading a cluster together is usually more useful than reading terms in isolation. ## Relationship to Knowledge Base Articles Glossary entries and articles do different jobs and are deliberately not interchangeable. An article answers one canonical question, develops an original framework and gives implementation guidance. A glossary entry defines one term, states why it matters and clears up the misconceptions attached to it. Where an article and an entry cover the same ground, the article is the explanation and the entry is the definition of record. Entries never introduce requirements that articles do not support, and neither introduces requirements that the underlying legislation does not contain. Where a term's meaning depends on a delegated act that has not yet been adopted, the entry says so explicitly rather than presenting a likely outcome as settled. ## A to Z **A** · **B** · **C** · **D** · **E** · **G** · **H** · **M** · **N** · **P** · **Q** · **R** · **S** · **T** · **W** ### A * [Authorised Representative](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/authorised-representative) * [Authoritative Source](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/authoritative-source) ### B * [Battery Passport](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/battery-passport) ### C * [Circular Economy](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/circular-economy) * [Conformity Assessment](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/conformity-assessment) * [Corrective Action](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/corrective-action) ### D * [Data Architecture](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/data-architecture) * [Data Carrier](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/data-carrier) * [Declaration of Performance and Conformity](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/declaration-of-performance-and-conformity) * [Delegated Act](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/delegated-act) * [Digital Product Passport](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/digital-product-passport) * [Product Data Governance](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/data-governance) * [Product Data Quality](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/data-quality) * [Product Data Stewardship](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/data-stewardship) ### E * [Economic Operator](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/economic-operator) * [Entry into Force](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/entry-into-force) * [EPCIS](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/epcis) * [ESPR](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/espr) * [EU Declaration of Conformity](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/eu-declaration-of-conformity) * [Extended Producer Responsibility](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/extended-producer-responsibility) ### G * [Golden Record](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/golden-record) * [GS1](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/gs1) * [GS1 Digital Link](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/gs1-digital-link) * [GTIN](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/gtin) ### H * [Harmonised Standard](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/harmonised-standard) * [Harmonised Technical Specification](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/harmonised-technical-specification) ### M * [Market Surveillance](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/market-surveillance) * [Market Surveillance Authority](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/market-surveillance-authority) * [Master Data Management](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/master-data-management) ### N * [Notified Body](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/notified-body) ### P * [Presumption of Conformity](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/presumption-of-conformity) * [Product Data](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/product-data) * [Product Identifier](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/product-identifier) * [Product Lifecycle](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/product-lifecycle) * [Product Master Data](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/product-master-data) * [Product Traceability](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/product-traceability) ### Q * [QR Code](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/qr-code) ### R * [Recall](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/recall) * [Resolver](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/resolver) ### S * [Source of Truth](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/source-of-truth) * [State of Health](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/state-of-health) * [Supply Chain Tier](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/supply-chain-tier) * [Sustainability Data](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/sustainability-data) * [System of Record](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/system-of-record) ### T * [Technical Documentation](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/technical-documentation) ### W * [Withdrawal](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/withdrawal) * [Working Plan](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/working-plan) ## Featured Terms Start here if you are new to Digital Product Passports. These entries carry the concepts that every other term depends on. * [Data Carrier](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/data-carrier) * [Digital Product Passport](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/digital-product-passport) * [Economic Operator](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/economic-operator) * [ESPR](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/espr) * [Product Identifier](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/product-identifier) ## Recently Added * [Authorised Representative](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/authorised-representative) * [Authoritative Source](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/authoritative-source) * [Battery Passport](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/battery-passport) * [Corrective Action](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/corrective-action) * [Data Architecture](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/data-architecture) * [Declaration of Performance and Conformity](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/declaration-of-performance-and-conformity) ## Related Knowledge Base Sections * [Getting Started](/docs/knowledge-base/getting-started/overview) for orientation before reading the definitions in depth. * [Digital Product Passports](/docs/knowledge-base/digital-product-passports/overview) for the articles that develop these concepts in full. * [Regulations](/docs/knowledge-base/regulations/overview) for the legal instruments the glossary cites. * [Standards & Technology](/docs/knowledge-base/standards-and-technology/overview) for identifier, carrier and resolution standards. * [Implementation](/docs/knowledge-base/implementation/overview) for turning these definitions into a working data model. ## Contributing Terms The glossary grows alongside the Knowledge Base. When an article introduces a term that a reader would reasonably need to look up on its own, that term becomes a glossary entry. New entries appear in the A to Z listing, in the navigation and in the recently added list automatically, so this page never links to unfinished material. ## About This Article About This Article
Last Reviewed
2026-08-07
Next Scheduled Review
2027-08-07
Article Version
2.0
tieback Knowledge is a continuously maintained reference library covering Digital Product Passports, product traceability, product compliance and related regulations. Articles are reviewed regularly as legislation, standards and implementation guidance evolve. ## Related Docs * [Getting Started](/docs/knowledge-base/getting-started/overview) * [Digital Product Passports](/docs/knowledge-base/digital-product-passports/overview) * [Regulations](/docs/knowledge-base/regulations/overview) * [Standards & Technology](/docs/knowledge-base/standards-and-technology/overview) * [FAQs](/docs/knowledge-base/faqs/overview)