Packaging Digital Link - DT

The Packaging Digital Link is a web link that identifies one Packaging System and gives access to its packaging dossier: the EU Declarations of Conformity, the technical documentation and the packaging composition. It is built on ISO/IEC, ANSI and GS1 standards, and its content follows the IMDE Packaging System data container.

Purpose

One Packaging System is often used by many sales units and transport units. In private label, these units are placed on the market by different Manufacturers, each of whom signs an EU Declaration of Conformity under the PPWR. The technical knowledge of the packaging, however, sits with the party that fills it.

The Packaging Digital Link separates the dossier from the signature:

• The party that knows the packaging keeps one dossier per Packaging System.
• Every party that needs the dossier stores one link instead of a copy of the files.
• A change is published once, at the link. All sales units and transport units that run on the Packaging System refer to the same, current dossier.

Concepts

Term	Definition
Packaging System	A unique combination of packaging components that together form the packaging of an item, from sales packaging up to transport packaging. One Packaging System has one dossier.
Packaging System identifier	A unique, opaque identifier for one Packaging System, for example VTA-MPLA-PS-3YJHUG2A. It carries no meaning and never changes.
Sales unit, transport unit	Trade items identified by a GTIN that run on a Packaging System. One Packaging System is linked to 1..N sales units and transport units.
Packaging dossier	The information served at the link: EU Declarations of Conformity, technical documentation and packaging composition.
Resolver	The web service that receives a request for a link and returns the right target. Any resolver that conforms to the GS1 Digital Link standard and ISO/IEC 18975 and meets the resolver requirements can serve Packaging Digital Links, for example Prodigi.link.

Identifier and link syntax

A Packaging Digital Link is an HTTPS URI with this pattern:

https://{resolver domain}/31B/{Packaging System identifier}

Example with the resolver Prodigi.link: https://prodigi.link/31B/VTA-MPLA-PS-3YJHUG2A

Part	Value	Standard
Scheme and host	https://{resolver domain}, for example https://prodigi.link	Domain of any conformant resolver
Data Identifier	31B	ANSI MH10.8.2 Data Identifier, used here for the Packaging System
Identifier value	VTA-MPLA-PS-3YJHUG2A	Unique Packaging System identifier
URI structure	Data Identifier and value as path segments	ISO/IEC 18975 (encoding of identifiers on the web)
Data carrier	QR code containing the URI	ISO/IEC 18004

The QR code can be opened by any scanner, browser or system. No proprietary app is needed.

Relation to GS1 Digital Link

The Packaging Digital Link does not replace the GS1 Digital Link of a trade item. The two are linked:

• The GS1 Digital Link of a sales unit or transport unit (/01/{GTIN}) can carry a link of type imde:packagingInfo that points to the Packaging Digital Link of the Packaging System it runs on.
• A GTIN that runs on more than one Packaging System carries one such link per Packaging System.

Link types

The resolver serves information through link types. Conformant resolvers recognise all link types in the gs1: namespace and may add their own namespaces. The Packaging Digital Link uses the IMDE namespace imde: = https://imde.io/voc/ next to the GS1 Web Vocabulary.

Link type	Full URI	Target
imde:packagingInfo	https://imde.io/voc/packagingInfo	The packaging dossier as JSON (IMDE Packaging System data container)
gs1:defaultLink	https://gs1.org/voc/defaultLink	A human-readable page of the Packaging System, if available
linkset	not applicable	The full set of links for the identifier (RFC 9264)

imde:packagingInfo

Property	Value
URI	https://imde.io/voc/packagingInfo
Label	Packaging information
Definition	A link to structured, machine-readable information about the Packaging System of an item: the EU Declarations of Conformity, the technical documentation with its evidence files, and the packaging composition (packaging elements, materials and composite materials with their form-related and material-related attributes, such as recycled content). Intended for business-to-business use in PPWR compliance and EPR reporting.
Target media type	application/json
Target profile	https://imde.io/index.php?title=DataContainer_-_PackagingSystem
Can start from	A Packaging System identifier (/31B/) or a GTIN (/01/)
Machine-readable definition	https://imde.io/voc/packagingInfo (HTML, or JSON-LD with Accept: application/ld+json)

Related GS1 link types and when to use them instead:

• gs1:sustainabilityInfo for consumer-facing sorting and recycling information.
• gs1:masterData for general product master data.
• gs1:certificationInfo for a single certificate.

The compact form imde:packagingInfo is used in the linkType query parameter. In linksets and HTTP headers the full URI is used. If GS1 publishes an equivalent link type, imde:packagingInfo will be declared equivalent to it and will keep resolving.

Resolver requirements

A resolver that serves Packaging Digital Links must:

• Conform to the GS1 Digital Link standard and ISO/IEC 18975.
• Accept ANSI MH10.8.2 Data Identifiers (such as 31B) as path segments, next to GS1 Application Identifiers (such as 01).
• Recognise the imde: namespace (https://imde.io/voc/), so that linkType=imde:packagingInfo and the full URI are treated as the same link type.
• Return linksets as application/linkset+json (RFC 9264), with link types written as full URIs.
• Redirect with HTTP 307 to the target of the requested link type, and fall back to the default link for a request without a link type or with an unknown one.

Resolving a Packaging Digital Link

The examples below use Prodigi.link as the resolver. With another conformant resolver, only the domain changes.

Request one link type

GET https://prodigi.link/31B/VTA-MPLA-PS-3YJHUG2A?linkType=imde:packagingInfo

HTTP/1.1 307 Temporary Redirect
Location: https://{dossier host}/packaging-system/VTA-MPLA-3YJHUG2A.json

Request all links

GET https://prodigi.link/31B/VTA-MPLA-PS-3YJHUG2A?linkType=linkset
Accept: application/linkset+json

{
  "linkset": [{
    "anchor": "https://prodigi.link/31B/VTA-MPLA-PS-3YJHUG2A",
    "https://imde.io/voc/packagingInfo": [{
      "href": "https://{dossier host}/packaging-system/VTA-MPLA-PS-3YJHUG2A.json",
      "type": "application/json",
      "profile": "https://imde.io/schema/packaging-system",
      "title": "Packaging System dossier"
    }]
  }]
}

Start from a GTIN

GET https://prodigi.link/01/{GTIN}?linkType=imde:packagingInfo

HTTP/1.1 307 Temporary Redirect
Location: https://prodigi.link/31B/VTA-MPLA-PS-3YJHUG2A?linkType=imde:packagingInfo

The GTIN link points to the Packaging Digital Link, not to the dossier file. When the dossier moves, only the link of the Packaging System changes.

Behaviour of a request without a link type

• A browser, or any request without linkType, is redirected to the default link.
• An unknown link type falls back to the default link.

Packaging dossier content

The target of imde:packagingInfo is one JSON document that follows the IMDE Packaging System data container, an open, published JSON Schema (Packaging System Datacontainer. It describes a Packaging System and its dossier in the same way for every party.

Data topic	Content
EU Declaration of Conformity	One declaration per Manufacturer, for the Packaging System and the sales units and transport units that run on it.
Technical documentation	The proof of conformity, with its evidence files, such as test reports, supplier declarations and calculations.
Packaging composition	Packaging elements, materials and composite materials, with form-related attributes (such as packaging type, dimensions and weight) and material-related attributes (such as material type and recycled content). Used for PPWR compliance and for EPR reporting and fee modulation.

Packaging is described with the PPWR packaging categories: sales packaging, grouped packaging, transport packaging and e-commerce packaging. Identifiers and code list values always state first which identifier type or code list is used, then the value.

Change management

• The Packaging Digital Link never changes. The dossier behind it is updated.
• A change to a Packaging System, such as a new coating or a new requirement under a delegated act, is published once at the link.
• Each party that stores the link sees which of its sales units and transport units the change affects, and can check and accept it in its own system.

Position in the IMDE framework

IMDE layer	Role in the Packaging Digital Link
Identifiers	Packaging System identifier with ANSI Data Identifier 31B; GTIN for sales units and transport units
Code Lists	IMDE code lists for packaging type, material and other attributes in the dossier
Data Schema	Packaging System data container (JSON Schema)
Data Transport	Digital Link resolution with link type imde:packagingInfo

Standards and references

• ISO/IEC 18975: encoding and resolving identifiers over HTTP
• ISO/IEC 18004: QR code bar code symbology
• ANSI MH10.8.2: Data Identifier and Application Identifier Standard (Data Identifier 31B)
• GS1 Digital Link standard and GS1 Web Vocabulary
• RFC 9264: Linkset, media types and a link relation type for link sets
• Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste (PPWR)
• imde:packagingInfo link type definition
• IMDE Packaging System data container (JSON Schema)