Certifications and Compliance¶

GTIN1 lets you attach third-party certifications to your trade items and expose them through GS1 Digital Link resolution, JSON-LD structured data, and the EU Digital Product Passport (DPP) format. Certifications provide verified trust signals to consumers, retailers, and regulators.

Certification Model¶

Certifications in GTIN1 follow a three-tier structure:

Certification Bodies¶

A certification body is the organization that issues certifications. Examples include USDA, Fair Trade USA, Rainforest Alliance, or the Marine Stewardship Council.

Each certification body has:

Field	Description
Name	The certification body's official name
Website	URL to their website
Description	What the organization certifies
Logo	The organization's logo (displayed alongside certifications)

Certifications¶

A certification is a specific standard or program offered by a certification body. For example, USDA offers "USDA Organic," and the Marine Stewardship Council offers "MSC Certified Sustainable Seafood."

Each certification has:

Field	Description
Code	Unique identifier (e.g., `USDA-ORGANIC`, `FAIRTRADE-USA`)
Label	Display name (e.g., "USDA Organic")
Description	What the certification means
URL	Link to the certification program's page
Logo	The certification mark or seal
Certification body	The issuing organization

Certification Assignments¶

A certification assignment links a certification to a specific trade item with validity metadata:

Field	Description
Trade item	The GTIN the certification applies to
Certification	Which certification is assigned
Valid from	Date the certification becomes effective (optional)
Expiration date	Date the certification expires (optional)

GTIN1 automatically determines whether a certification assignment is active based on the current date relative to the valid-from and expiration dates. If no dates are specified, the assignment is considered perpetually active.

Assigning Certifications to Trade Items¶

To assign a certification to a trade item:

Navigate to your trade item in the GTIN1 dashboard
Go to the Features tab
Select Certification Assignments
Choose the certification from the list and set validity dates if applicable
Save the assignment

You can assign multiple certifications to a single trade item. Each assignment tracks its own validity period independently.

Certification vs. Claim

GTIN1 distinguishes between certifications (verified by a third-party body) and claims (self-declared by the brand, such as "Non-GMO" or "Gluten Free"). Use certifications for standards that have been independently verified.

GS1 Link Type: `gs1:certificationInfo`¶

When a trade item has active certifications, GTIN1 includes a gs1:certificationInfo entry in the linkset response. This allows applications and retailers to programmatically discover certification information.

Example linkset entry:

{
  "anchor": "https://gtin1.com/01/00012345678906",
  "https://gs1.org/voc/certificationInfo": [
    {
      "href": "https://gtin1.com/catalog/ti/abc123/#certifications",
      "title": "Certification Information",
      "type": "text/html",
      "hreflang": ["en"]
    }
  ]
}

You can request certification information directly by appending the linkType query parameter:

https://gtin1.com/01/00012345678906?linkType=gs1:certificationInfo

EU Digital Product Passport (DPP)¶

GTIN1 generates a Digital Product Passport for every trade item in JSON-LD format. The DPP is a machine-readable document designed for regulatory compliance, initially targeting the EU Digital Product Passport Regulation.

Accessing the DPP¶

The DPP is available as a JSON-LD endpoint for each trade item:

https://gtin1.com/catalog/ti/{slug}.jsonld/

You can also request it through content negotiation by sending an Accept: application/ld+json header to the trade item's Digital Link URI.

DPP Structure¶

The DPP output conforms to schema.org Product with custom dpp: namespace extensions:

{
  "@context": [
    "https://schema.org/",
    {
      "dpp": "https://example.com/ns/dpp#"
    }
  ],
  "@type": "Product",
  "@id": "https://gtin1.com/catalog/ti/abc123.jsonld/",
  "gtin": "00012345678906",
  "name": "Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil",
  "url": "https://gtin1.com/catalog/ti/abc123/",
  "dpp:passportVersion": "1.0",
  "dpp:lastUpdated": "2026-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "brand": {
    "@type": "Brand",
    "name": "Salsa Gonzales",
    "url": "https://salsagonzales.com"
  },
  "dpp:identifiers": {
    "gtin": "00012345678906",
    "lotNumber": "LOT2026A",
    "serialNumber": "SN001234"
  },
  "dpp:composition": {
    "@type": "ItemList",
    "itemListElement": [
      {
        "@type": "ListItem",
        "position": 1,
        "name": "Extra Virgin Olive Oil",
        "dpp:allergen": false
      }
    ]
  },
  "dpp:certifications": [
    {
      "@type": "dpp:Certification",
      "name": "USDA Organic",
      "identifier": "USDA-ORGANIC",
      "issuer": "USDA",
      "url": "https://www.usda.gov/organic"
    }
  ],
  "dpp:circularity": {
    "recyclability": null,
    "repairability": null,
    "reusability": null
  },
  "dpp:environmentalImpact": {
    "carbonFootprint": null,
    "waterUsage": null,
    "energyConsumption": null
  }
}

DPP Sections¶

Section	Description	Status
Identifiers	GTIN, lot number, serial number	Available
Brand	Brand name and website	Available
Composition	Ingredient list with allergen flags	Available
Certifications	Active certification assignments with issuer and code	Available
Circularity	Recyclability, repairability, reusability scores	Placeholder (coming soon)
Environmental Impact	Carbon footprint, water usage, energy consumption	Placeholder (coming soon)

DPP is Phase 1

The current DPP implementation covers product identification, composition, and certifications. Circularity and environmental impact sections are included as placeholders and will be populated as the EU regulation finalizes its data requirements.

Certifications in JSON-LD¶

Beyond the DPP endpoint, certifications also appear in the standard schema.org structured data that GTIN1 embeds in product pages. This helps search engines and AI systems discover certification information when crawling your product pages.

Substances Registry¶

GTIN1 includes a substances registry for tracking the material composition of trade items. Each trade item can have a detailed substance composition that records:

Field	Description
Substance	Reference to a standardized substance from the registry
Percentage of weight	How much of the product this substance represents
Weight (grams)	Absolute weight of the substance
Recycled content percentage	Portion of the substance that is recycled
Is recycled material	Whether this substance is a recycled material
May contain	Whether traces may be present (for allergen labeling)
Priority	Display order (lower numbers first, for ingredient list ordering)
Origin	Country or region of origin

The substances registry supports both food ingredient tracking (for FSMA 204 and allergen labeling) and material composition tracking (for EU DPP sustainability requirements). Substances are linked to your trade items and automatically included in the DPP composition section.

Best Practices¶

Keep certifications current: Set expiration dates and update them when certifications are renewed. Expired certifications are automatically excluded from the DPP and linkset responses.
Use specific codes: Assign meaningful certification codes (e.g., MSC-COC-12345) that match your actual certificate numbers for traceability.
Upload certification logos: Logos appear on product pages and in the dashboard, making certifications immediately visible to consumers.
Combine with claims: Use certifications for third-party verified standards and claims for brand self-declarations. This distinction builds trust with consumers and meets regulatory requirements for truthful labeling.